Solo Tu (Only You)
by fyd818
Summary: Freshly returned from their honeymoon, newlyweds Neji and Tenten settle into their new life together - but it's not all sunshine and roses. "Solo tu, mio cuore - only you, my heart," he whispered, and she smiled. :Neji x Tenten:
1. Settled

Disclaimer: I don't own _Naruto_ , nor any places, things, characters, nor ideas therein. The aforementioned belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Viz Media, Shounen Jump, TV Tokyo, etc. I am writing this fic for entertainment purposes only, not monetary gain.

Summary: Freshly returned from their honeymoon, newlyweds Neji and Tenten settle into their new life together - but it's not all sunshine and roses. "Solo tu, mio cuore - only you, my heart," he whispered, and she smiled. :Neji x Tenten:

Rating: T

Warnings: Violence; sequences of doctors doing things doctors do (mentions of blood, broken bones, and surgery since Neji's an ER doctor).

Pairing(s): Neji/Tenten, some Sasuke/Hinata and Konohamaru/Hanabi

Universe: AU

Concurrent to: _Entanglements_

Title Inspiration: _Return to Me_ by Dean Martin

 **Author's Note:** It feels so _good_ to be writing NejiTen again! I've missed my OTP like _crazy_. I was so happy when I got the idea for _Solo Tu_ , since it had been ages since the last time I wrote for NejiTen, plus I wasn't quite ready to let go of the _Entanglements_ universe yet. The title of this fic will make sense in time, I promise (I know it seems a little strange right now - it's a lot different than my usual titles). Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

* * *

 ***~Solo Tu (Only You)~***

 _.:fyd818:._

* * *

 ***~Chapter I~***

 _~Settled~_

* * *

The Bahamas had been absolutely amazing, with miles of white sand stretching along the beautiful turquoise and aquamarine ocean that eventually melded into the bright blue sky; with shops and spas and other amazing things to do. Somehow, she'd managed to cram as much of it all as she could into a week. But despite how great the Bahamas were, newlywed Hyuuga Tenten had to admit there really was no place like home: good old Konoha, Missouri.

Stretching lazily, Tenten opened her eyes to the late-morning sunlight coming into the room through a crack in the drapes. The beam fell on her and her husband Neji's luggage, which they'd dropped next to the door on their way into the room the night before. Thankfully, their bed was already put together and made since he'd been living in the house for two weeks before their wedding; at least they hadn't had to face that at two-thirty in the morning.

Rolling onto her back, Tenten reached out to the other side of the bed. Her hand hit the flat, cool mattress, causing her to grin when she realized Neji was up and had already made his side of the bed. Her husband usually worked the early shift at the ER of Konoha General, making it hard for him to break his habit of rising with the sun. He'd done admirably well sleeping in during their honeymoon (though truth be told, there'd been very little sleeping involved in the "sleeping in"), but now that they were back home, apparently it was business as usual.

After climbing out of bed, completing her morning ablutions, and then making her side of the bed, Tenten ran her hand through her sun-streaked, wavy brown hair as she padded barefoot down the stairs of their house to the kitchen, where the smell of something sweet and delicious beckoned.

She stopped just inside the doorway, propping her hip against the counter so she could watch Neji for a minute without being caught. He stood with his back to her, his dark brown hair falling to the middle of his shoulderblades, only a little shorter than her own. He wore a blue shirt which very nicely showed the muscles in his back as he stretched to put a set of bowls on the top shelf of one of the cabinets above the microwave. From the look of the empty boxes sitting around, he'd gotten a lot of unpacking accomplished while she'd played lazy in bed.

Pushing off the counter with one pajama-pants clad hip, Tenten slipped across the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Neji's waist as she rested her head between his shoulder blades. "Morning, husband," she sighed. Would that word - _husband_ \- ever get old? She seriously doubted it.

Neji twisted in her loose embrace to wrap his arms around her and pull her against his chest, leaning down as she stretched up to give her a proper good-morning kiss. "Good morning, wife. How are you this morning, Sleeping Beauty?"

Tenten tucked her head beneath his chin and darted a quick glance at the digital clock on the stove. "Barely morning," she said upon seeing it was 11:42. "But very well. I had fun on our honeymoon, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of nice being back home and settling in."

Planting a kiss on the crown of her head, Neji swept his hand up and down her back once before letting her go. "I doubt you'll still be saying that when we're in the midst of unpacking. I hate to say it, but we need to get most of this done today since we both have to be back at work tomorrow."

"You had to ruin the mood, didn't you?" With a laugh, Tenten pinched off some of the coffee cake sitting next to the stove, rolling her eyes in ecstasy when she realized it was still warm. Fortunately for her, both Neji and Tenten's former roommate had something in common besides their shared pale eyes as cousins - they were both wickedly good cooks. Hinata preferred cinnamon rolls and Neji coffee cake, but either way, they were both jam-packed with cinnamon and made Tenten vow to be a slave for life as long as she got to keep eating the sweets. "Looks like you've gotten a good start on the kitchen. Sorry I slept so late."

"I like being productive," Neji said reasonably as he went back to unpacking the box next to him on the counter. "And besides, you needed the sleep."

Tenten nicked a clean plate out of the cabinet next to the sink and served herself up some of the coffee cake. After pouring a glass of milk, she found a clear spot at the counter and got to work eating so she could help. "So is that _all_ we're going to do today, unpack?"

Neji glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled - a promising look. "Well, not _all_."

She grinned, thinking privately she liked that plan very much.

* * *

By the time they stopped for a late lunch, they'd already finished unpacking the kitchen, dining room, and master bedroom. After downing sandwiches and chips, they tackled the sitting room - by far the most challenging room, at least to Neji's way of thinking.

His wife, who worked as an antiques dealer at a little shop close to the center of their small town, collected anything and everything sharp and pointy. Thanks to her healthy employee discount, she'd amassed a sizeable number of weapons - mostly Japanese, but there were others there as well - and she knew how to use every single one of them.

So instead of knick-knacks decorating the sitting room, they had weapons. Two katana hung parallel horizontally over the mantle, display cases sat around the room with various other weapons inside, and several shuriken formed a star shape in a glass frame hanging between the two picture windows on the back wall. Each was polished to a sheen and had been freshly sharpened right before their wedding.

Neji had been practicing martial arts since he was eleven, but he was pretty sure Tenten's collection would be more intimidating should anyone even dare to break into the house.

Tenten cooed to a matched pair of sai as she settled their case atop the entertainment center. "Don't you look good in your new home," she said proudly.

"I think we should get a dog," Neji said, watching Tenten with no little bit of amusement.

Turning, Tenten blinked at him with her soft chocolate eyes. Strands of her brown hair were already falling from the twin buns atop her head, and her yoga pants and black cami beneath an oversize top (was that his?) had little spots of dirt on it from where she'd spot-polished a few of her "babies." "What kind of dog?" she asked, face lighting up.

"Somthing big," Neji replied. He didn't like little ankle-biters like Chihuahuas which were better for neurotic barking and biting than being a true companion and friend. "Maybe a shepherd, collie, or even a Golden retriever. They're all really good as family dogs."

He felt something unwind in his chest as Tenten's face softened. "Good with children," she murmured. "As long as we get one that is, I'm fine with it."

They'd discussed kids several dozen times before they got married. Whereas Neji had grown up in a fairly large family - though most of his extensive clan still lived in Japan and he rarely saw them - Tenten had grown up an orphan. He wanted kids, definitely, but he tended more toward one or two, whereas Tenten admitted she wanted a whole houseful.

He wasn't quite sure he was ready for _that_ many kids. But, at least for now, he was content to wait and see what happened.

"Speaking of family-" Neji hated to bring up the subject, but it had been lingering at the back of his mind all morning "-I really need to talk to Hinata."

Tenten, busily putting framed pictures on the top of the entertainment center to join her sai, stilled. "I still can't believe she did that," she said softly.

His cousin was about the most selfless person Neji knew. It really didn't surprise him at all that she'd given up her freedom and let her younger sister live with her in her condo so he and Tenten could have the outdoor wedding of their dreams. After a tree destroyed the gazebo in the park in which they originally planned to say their vows, Hinata had called her father and basically sacrificed her freedom so her cousin and his fiancée could have their outdoor wedding in the extensive gardens out back of Hyuuga Hiashi's mansion on the other side of town. It had been beautiful, almost like a fairytale, but he still wanted to talk to Hinata about what she'd done.

"I'm going to call her later," Tenten announced, drawing Neji away from his thoughts. "I'm hoping we can have lunch tomorrow, and I'll try to set up something then, okay?"

Neji nodded. "I'll try to join you, but I doubt I'll have time." Usually his lunch consisted of a few bites of whatever was handy in between emergencies. Though his job was stressful and hectic, he wouldn't give it up for anything. The ability to help people who were badly injured and at times on the cusp of death was very fulfilling, albeit occasionally draining, and he honestly couldn't imagine himself in any other profession.

Even if he had dreamed of being a ninja when he was around six years old.

Tenten's lower lip poked out in a playful pout. "I've gotten so used to having you all to myself over the past week or so, I'm just not sure I'm ready to share you with the hospital yet," she teased.

Crossing the room in six long strides, Neji wrapped his arms around his giggling wife from behind and buried his face in her neck. Pressing kisses to her soft, tanned, fragrant skin, he said, "And I'm not ready to share you with all those people who come into the antique shop. Surrounded as they are with dusty old relics, you're so beautiful I can't see how they'd resist." He nuzzled her collarbone, and she squirmed against him, laughing because she was so ticklish.

Leaning her head back against Neji's shoulder, Tenten sighed and pressed her hands against his, where they clasped comfortably in front of her stomach. "I love you."

Suddenly unpacking seemed like the most dry, boring thing in the world to do. Swiftly scooping her slender body into his arms, he carried her toward the stairs while mumbling against her lips, "I love you, too."

Oh, how he looked forward to spending forever with this woman.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Note:**_ Ahhh, it feels so good to be writing NejiTen again! I've had fun writing for other pairings in the fandom, but N/T was my first pairing, and has always been my favorite. And I have to admit, I wasn't really ready to let go of the _Entanglements_ universe at the end of the aforementioned fic, so I was really happy when Neji and Tenten nicely asked if I could tell their story, too. I am _so_ excited about all the things I have planned for you all in this story, and I look forward to sharing them with you! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!


	2. Schedule

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _HeavenlySwirl_ , _SilentMidnight2_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _keroRiBBIT_ , and _Ami1010_ for all your reviews! Also thanks to those of you who put this on their favorites and follows lists.

 **Author's Note:** This is an establishing chapter of sorts, but I had a good deal of fun writing it. A peek into what an average day looks like for Neji and Tenten before the _really_ fun stuff begins. Thanks for reading, and I hope you ejoy!

* * *

 ***~Chapter II~***

 _~Schedule~_

* * *

On a normal shift at Konoha General, Neji would see anywhere from twenty, on a slow day, to fifty, on a crammed-full day, patients. Since Konoha was surrounded by other, even smaller, towns theirs was the only hospital in the region and saw patients from a rather wide radius. He liked the slower days when patients were fewer and farther between, not just because it gave him more of a chance to breathe between cases, but because it meant fewer lives at risk.

Unfortunately for him, his first day back on the job after returning from his honeymoon was not a slow day. The highlight was when Neji first got to the hospital, and his coworkers all gathered around to congratulate him on his marriage and welcome him back to work.

The first patient came in only three minutes after he came on duty. Since it was getting close to time for school to start again, kids were doing more and more last-minute fun (to them) and dangerous (also to them) things. The first person through the door was a teenager with a compound fracture in her left tibia caused by a fall off her trampoline while trying to do some "sick" (her word) tricks. Neji had a feeling her parents were less impressed than her friends, who had already promised to sign her cast when she got it.

After that, people just came flooding in. Neji saw car accident victims, construction workers, three people with the stomach flu, a man with a mild concussion, four nosebleeds, and several unfortunates who had managed to break various bones while doing regular household chores in strange and, apparently, dangerous ways. Some of his more memorable cases included a woman who needed to be sent on to an OR for an emergency appendectomy (on her husband's birthday, no less); a seventy-five-year-old (but quite spry) Japanese woman who had broken her leg falling off a ladder while trying to cut down an "annoying" branch in a tree in her back yard (thank goodness she'd had enough sense to throw her chain saw in the opposite direction of herself when she fell); and finally a gentleman who had nearly cut his pinkie finger to the bone by smashing it in the joints of his garage door.

Sometimes Neji held the opinion the people who came through the emergency room belonged either on _Ripley's Believe it or Not!_ or in the _Guinness Book of World Records_ rather than a normal, small town in the heart of America. Though, believe it or not, he _had_ seen stranger. Compared to some, his first day back post-honeymoon was almost normal.

A lull finally allowed him to seek out some lunch around two and half hours before the end of his shift. Slumping into a chair in the breakroom, Neji dug into the salad he'd gotten from the cafeteria (oh look, the lettuce was mostly wilted _again_ , but at least it was more palatable than some offerings) and checked his phone. As he'd hoped, he had a text from Tenten.

 _Lunch with Hinata was fun. Arranged for us to have dinner with her, Hanabi, and their bf's some day soon. Love you!_

Neji blinked at his screen, then went back and read the text again. _For some reason, I don't think Tenten means_ "best friends" _by typing bf._ That meant...

His cousins had boyfriends. _What?_

It seemed like just last year Hinata graduated from high school, and just last month Hanabi was nine and still wearing braces. _Surely_ his cousins weren't old enough for boyfriends, right? _Does Uncle know about this?_ He thought about that for all of four seconds before deciding if Hiashi had known about it, there would have been a mushroom cloud above the mansion visible from the Bahamas. And since he hadn't seen anything like that at any point, Hinata and Hanabi must have been keeping their - he shuddered slightly - _significant others_ quiet.

Good thing Tenten had arranged for all of them to meet. Neji wanted to find out who these boys were so he could do some proper threatening. What was the point of being a big brother to Hinata and Hanabi if he didn't get to protect them - or enjoy the perks?

After shooting a quick response back to Tenten, who likely wouldn't get it until after she got off work unless it was a slow day at the shop, Neji dug into his wilted salad with the gusto of a half-starved man. He likely didn't have a whole lot of time to finish it, since his break officially ended in seven minutes and he was usually called back before that, so he inhaled it between sips of coffee. He hated the smell and the taste, but like all doctors he'd learned to tolerate it so he could have huge and legal doses of caffeine to keep him moving. Adrenaline, after all, could only carry him so far.

And the day only promised to get busier from here.

* * *

Tenten absolutely _hated_ slow days.

To the steady ticking of the many clocks hanging on the wall, she counted off the dragging minutes until it was time to go home. While the morning had been pretty busy, after she got back from lunch with Hinata the store had been all but dead.

And since her boss, Maito Gai, had left on a buying trip practically right after the store opened, she didn't even have anyone to talk to, which made the day all the lonelier. And longer.

When her phone chirped at three-thirty, Tenten was heartened to see a text from her husband. It had been a busy day at the ER (at least one of them was keeping occupied), but he was interested to hear more about her lunch with Hinata when he got home.

Tenten had a feeling he was more interested in hearing about Hinata's boyfriend than his cousin. She'd been surprised when the shy woman, who had had a grand total of three dates in her entire life, had announced she had a boyfriend at lunch - and, almost as surprising, that Hanabi had one, too. Naturally, Tenten immediately invited both Hyuuga women and their dates over for dinner on a day yet to be determined. Could she do any less, if for no other reason than her own husband's peace of mind?

Propping her chin on her hand, she stared across the store to the front door. It had been several _hours_ since it had opened and the cheerful chime rang to alert her of a new customer. She was surrounded by antiquity, beautiful objects steeped in history, full of stories just waiting to be told. Usually she loved being at the store, polishing and exploring, but today she just wanted to get to closing time so she could go home.

Sighing, Tenten held out her left hand so the overhead lights caught and gleamed on her engagement ring. The antique-cushion cut Santa Maria aquamarine, the finest quality of her birthstone, shone in brilliant, crystalline blues, and fire sparkled off the white zircon on the shoulders of the white gold band. Neji had actually gotten the ring through Gai's connections in the antique world, which brushed the fringes of the jewelry industry. Though he knew very little about jewelry, he knew people who did, and he was able to put Neji in contact with someone who found just what he'd been looking for.

She didn't know a whole lot about jewelry, not being a frills and frou-frou sort of girl, but she did know she _really_ liked her engagement ring.

The shop bell chimed, and Tenten perked up - until she realized it was only Rock Lee. Though he was her boss's adopted son and a good friend of her own, she had really rather been hoping a customer had shown up.

"Welcome back!" Lee said cheerfully. Stopping on the other side of the counter, he glanced around the store with his wide dark eyes and arched one ridiculously thick eyebrow. "No customers?"

"Not this afternoon, no." Tenten crossed her arms on the counter and dropped her head onto them with a groan. "We haven't had any since this morning before Gai left, and I'm about to go _nuts_."

Lee patted the top of her head sympathetically. "It is a Monday," he reminded her. "This is not typically the shop's busiest day. And think positively, Tenten! If you look so worried too often, you will get wrinkles, and then what will happen to your springtime of youth?"

Tenten had known Lee for pretty much her entire life. They'd gone to the same school, attended the same martial arts classes, and even taken a hiking trip together. (Something Tenten later regretted, since Lee saw it more as an opportunity to run rather than hike, and turned it into a race to see who could reach their destination first. He was the uncontested winner, since Tenten was there for the view and the wildlife and not some crazy competition.) For as long as she'd known him, Lee had been all about "the power" and "the springtime" of youth, something he'd undoubtedly picked up from his adoptive father.

It would have been downright creepy if it wasn't for the fact Lee and Gai obviously meant it in the nicest possible way.

...But it was still a _little_ creepy, sometimes.

"I'm not going to wrinkle and age prematurely," Tenten told Lee. Lifting her head, she waved one lazy hand around the store. "Just because I work in an antique store doesn't mean _I'm_ an antique. Or will be, someday." Since Lee had voiced disinterest in the store, Gai promised when he retired he would sell it to Tenten (at a much better price than someone else would have to pay, naturally). It was an incredible honor and one she never took lightly. Especially at times like this, when she was the only one to run the store because her boss was gone on a buying trip.

Lee gave her a disbelieving look but thankfully let the subject drop. "I suppose my youthful rival is having a good day at work, as well?"

Unsurprisingly Lee's competitive spirit had led him to challenge Neji, their martial arts class's best student, to multiple competitions to see who was the better athlete. It also wasn't surprising when Lee, after suffering many defeats in a row, declared Neji to be his eternal rival and vowed that he would someday best him.

It was, however, somewhat surprising that Lee had maintained the one-sided rivalry years later, after Neji and Tenten left the club. But since Lee had taken over as the teacher upon Gai's reducing his involvement to concentrate on his business, apparently he still sought to be the best even though his "rival" was no longer actively practicing the art of self-defense.

"Neji's been so busy he just had time for lunch a few minutes ago," Tenten told her friend. "Thankfully he's only got a couple of hours left before the end of his shift." And then they could meet at home, have a nice, quiet dinner together, then watch a movie before going to bed.

"Ah, good!" Lee clapped his hands together and rubbed them gleefully, grinning at her in a way which made Tenten's scalp prickle warningly. "I have missed you both during your absence, and I came by to invite the two of you out to dinner tonight, my treat!"

 _Neji's gonna flip._ After such a busy day at work, she knew he'd be wiped, but Lee was like a runaway train once he got on something, and neither of them would be able to talk him out of it. So, like it or not, it seemed Tenten and Neji had alternate dinner plans this evening. "Sounds good," she said, smiling at Lee's enthusiastic whoop. "When and where?"

"Six-thirty at Yellow Flash," Lee said promptly. "I will go call now and reserve us a table. See you later!" With a wave, he left the shop, already lifting his cell phone to his ear.

With another groan, Tenten dropped her head back down onto her arms and decided she had better be careful what she wished for. Because her nice, quiet afternoon was going to lead to a decidedly noisy, albeit fun, evening.

So much for a nice, quiet, romantic dinner in. _Well, I guess the honeymoon's over._

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 **Author's Notes:** Believe it or not, Neji's three more 'interesting' cases actually have happened to people in my family. My cousin-in-law had to have her appendix out on my cousin's birthday; a good friend of my family (who's like another grandmother to me) did actually fall out of a tree while trying to cut down a limb that was driving her nuts; and my dad did some pretty good damage to his pinkie by slamming it between joints on the garage door. (That old adage 'write what you know' really does come in handy every now and then, especially when writing about incidents coming into emergency rooms.) And I really do adore Lee. He makes me tired every time I write him ( _where_ does he get all that energy, good grief?!), but I do adore him. I hope you enjoyed his chapter, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update! (With more NejiTen interaction, guaranteed! Sorry they weren't together for this one...)


	3. Dinner

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Kagamine Arimonori_ , _rao hyuga 18_ , _Ami1010_ , and _SilentMidnight2_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** We see _lots_ of other characters in this chapter - plus the return of NejiTen interaction! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter III~***

 _~Dinner~_

* * *

The Yellow Flash was conveniently located in the center of Konoha, in what most people referred to as the "business district" of the relatively small town. Being the only sit-down restaurant in the area, it offered an eclectic variety of foods, from cheeseburgers to burritos to lasagna. There was something for everyone's palates there, which often made it a meeting place for patrons and employees alike at the nearby library, antique shop, grocery store, hospital, and any number of other businesses.

As Neji and Tenten stepped from the muggy heat outside to the cool, fragrant interior of the restaurant, the buzzing hum of numerous conversations battered the former's ears. The place was pretty busy, considering it was only a Monday, and the sound made the headache he'd been fighting since before lunch offer a particularly vicious jab just behind his eyes. The bright fluorescent lights overhead weren't helping, either.

Pausing just inside the door, next to the hostess stand, Neji scanned the patrons in search of Tenten's coworker. With his bowl-cut hair, wide dark eyes, and penchant for wearing lime-green and neon orange clothing, he shouldn't have been hard to spot, but he didn't seem to be there.

"I guess we beat him here." Tenten had obviously come to the same conclusion, and she glanced at her watch with a concerned frown. "And we're five minutes late. He _did_ say six-thirty...?" She trailed off in confusion.

Just then Uzumaki Karin, niece of the restaurant's head cook Kushina, hustled up to the hostess stand. "Sorry about your wait," she apologized. Pushing her glasses up on her nose with one hand as she reached for menus and napkin-wrapped silverware with her other, she added, "As you can see, we're ridiculously busy tonight. Please, follow me."

Neji rested his hand on the small of Tenten's back as she preceded him across the dining room, following Karin as she expertly wove around patrons, her fellow servers, tables, and chairs. When they reached the rear of the restaurant, on the opposite end of the wall from the entrance to the kitchen, Karin pushed open the door to the overflow seating area and motioned for them to follow her in.

As soon as they stepped into the room, Neji realized what was happening. The overhead lights flashed on, giving him a momentary glimpse of the overwhelming amount of balloons, banners, and streamers decorating the room before the group of his and Tenten's friends gathered there shouted, "Welcome back!"

Karin grinned at them and tilted her head toward the group. "I was sworn to secrecy," she said. "But seriously, welcome back, you guys. And surprise."

Lee, in his usual enthusiastic way, bounded around the table and threw his arms around Neji and Tenten, hugging them tightly. "Welcome back!" he shouted, right in their ears.

"You saw me earlier today!" Tenten exclaimed, exasperated. "Did you organize this?"

Finally Lee backed off, and he grinned sheepishly. "Well, it was kind of a group effort, but it was my idea."

"And mine!" Maito Gai laughed as he followed his adopted son's steps to clap Neji on the shoulder - with far more force than necessary - and give Tenten a one-armed side hug. "I'm sorry for lying to you," he said to Tenten. "But I needed the excuse of a buying trip to get out of the shop for the day and help set all this up." An expansive gesture that, were it not for Lee's reflexes, would have given the younger version of himself a black eye indicated the overblown decorations in the room. "But I really _will_ leave on a buying trip tomorrow," he added to Tenten.

The rest of their friends crowded around the newlyweds. Among the many hugs and effusive greetings, Neji noticed his younger cousins were missing. In a way he was glad Hinata and Hanabi hadn't come; having a separate celebration with them in his and Tenten's house later in the week would be much nicer.

Uzumaki Naruto, the son of the restaurant's owners, joined Karin and Hōzuki Suigetsu in taking drink and food orders, delivering the aforementioned items, and generally making sure everyone stayed happy. A couple of times he took a quick break from his duties to interject something into the current conversation or break up a fight between Karin and Suigetsu.

Neji sat at the head of the table, Tenten crowded in next to him. While she and her friend Yamanaka Ino, whose family owned Konoha's only flowershop, laughed over something the blonde said, Neji took a moment to appreciate the surprise their friends had set up for them. Nearly every day on his job he encountered people who had suffered things which gave them a new appreciation for life. He couldn't spend time around any of them without coming away with a certain zeal for it himself.

Though he was an introvert by nature, he'd overcome a lot of his social awkwardness in high school. Dating someone like Tenten, who was comfortable in her own skin and with being around people all the time, had forced Neji to break out of his shell and just _be_ around people. He'd retreated a bit once he reached college and med school, but he'd been so busy with his studies he'd really only been able to make time out of his ridiculous schedule for Tenten and his family.

But now, as he looked at the people gathered around the tables pushed together in the center of the room, Neji felt a new appreciation for his and Tenten's friends. Besides Ino, there was Haruno Sakura, who worked at the same hospital as Neji, albeit in a different ward; Naruto, who was basically friends with everyone; Nara Shikamaru, a lazy genius who was a whiz at both creating and breaking security systems; Akimichi Chouji, who had come to the restaurant on his day off from being a cook to celebrate with his friends; Inuzuka Kiba, an officer on the police force; Lee and Gai; and Aburame Shino, who drove the 90 minute commute to the college town of Columbia to teach entomology at the University of Missouri.

There were only three missing faces among those gathered. Besides Hinata and Hanabi, Sai, who was the art expert at the antique shop, hadn't been able to come because he was on a buying trip. Of all their friends, Neji mused, he was probably the one the two of them knew least. Besides having the unfortunate habit of blurting out whatever he thought, he could spot a fake painting in three seconds flat, but tact remained something which always escaped him.

Neji shook away his thoughts and returned to the conversation, where Tenten was busy regaling the other occupants of the table with stories about the beautiful outdoor market they'd gone to several times in the Bahamas. She shook her head so her ammolite earrings, which she'd picked up at one of the stalls, caught the lights and flashed their brilliant rainbow of colors.

"It was so beautiful there." Tenten sighed. "I _so_ wasn't ready to come back home. If I'd had a choice, I think I would have moved there permanently. The sky and water were so blue, the sand this beautiful silvery-white, and everything just seemed so bright and fresh there."

"Except towards there at the end," Neji said. Tenten nodded her agreement, and when the pair received several puzzled looks, he elaborated. "A tropical depression rolled in toward the end of our trip. We couldn't go to the beach our last full day there, and the power went out in our hotel in the middle of the night. It was back on by morning, thankfully. It was a relatively minor storm, so we were still able to leave on time. But it was an interesting experience, for sure." And one he'd not trade for anything in the world - even the part with the storm.

Right then, with his wife next to him and his friends all around them, Neji acknowledged the indisputable fact his life was perfect.

And, to his surprise, he realized his earlier headache was now nowhere to be found.

* * *

Tenten hung her car keys on the hook next to the garage door when she and Neji got home around two hours later. "I am so full I never want to eat again," she groaned. "Kushina makes some of the best food in the whole, wide world."

"Besides you." Neji pressed a kiss to her cheek on his way past her, deeper into the house.

"Flattering as that may be, you know it's not true." Tenten kicked off her sandals and pulled the clip out of her hair, allowing the long brown strands to fall down around her shoulders and face. Toying with the clip, which was decorated with a dragonfly made of colored glass, she followed Neji into the kitchen. "But I thank you anyway."

Neji leaned against the counter as he nursed a glass of water. "I'm not going to want to get up in the morning," he groaned, looking at the clock. "I'm far too full to go to bed. But it was worth it, seeing everyone again. I know it's not been that long, really, since we saw them last, but it was still nice."

Nabbing the glass from her husband, Tenten took a drink before handing it back. Then she pulled herself up to sit on the counter and swung her legs, smiling as she nudged a container of peanuts away from her hip. "You're right. I just wish-" The phone tucked into the pocket of her capris buzzed, and she cut herself off with an apology as she reached for it. "Oh, it's a text from Hinata."

"About dinner?" Neji asked, coming over to read her screen upside-down.

"Hmm," Tenten hummed her reply while reading the text. "Saturday okay with you, love?" She looked up, and Neji's face so close to hers made her momentarily forget her train of thought. What, exactly had she been doing again?

Neji smiled, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to her, and swooped in for a quick kiss before backing off and giving her room to breathe, let alone think. "Saturday's fine. What do you think, around five?"

"Works for me if it works for them." Shaking off the last of her fuzzy-mindedness, Tenten texted the information to Hinata. Then she tapped the fingers of her free hand against the edge of the counter while she waited for a reply, watching Neji finish off his glass of water and suddenly wishing she had one of her own, too.

As if reading her mind, Neji refilled the glass and handed it to her right as her phone buzzed again. Taking a sip from the glass with one hand, Tenten opened the text with her other and glanced at its contents: _Sure thing. Watching a movie with Hanabi. Talk to you later._

"I'm glad they seem to be getting along okay," Tenten commented, setting her phone aside. "Hina says she and Hanabi are about to watch a movie together."

"Good." Neji turned to look out the window over the sink, then closed the blinds, shutting out the last velvety purples of dusk on the horizon. "But I still wish Hinata hadn't agreed to Uncle's demands. It's not fair to her."

"No, it's not." Tenten set her now-empty glass on the counter next to her, then thoughtfully swung her feet, crossed at the ankles, a couple of times. "But somehow, I think this might be good for both of them. Now that they're together and outside the sphere of Hiashi's direct influence, who knows?" She shrugged. "They might actually get to be friends."

"Maybe." Neji sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, suddenly seeming disgruntled. Tenten knew him well enough to know what he was going to say even before he spoke the words. "And now they've both got boyfriends. I'm afraid it's going to be like throwing kerosene on a fire."

"Or," Tenten pointed out, feeling the sudden need to play devil's advocate, "it will be just the bonding experience the pair of them need. After all, they've got something in common now. Could be that's just the ticket to them getting along famously." Or so she hoped. Saturday, she had a feeling, would really tell the tale.

Just who were these mysterious men who had stolen the hearts of the Hyuuga sisters?

"I feel the sudden, intense needs to hunt those boys down and give them a good talking to." Neji scowled.

Tenten bit her lip to hold back her laughter. "I doubt either of them are 'boys' in the way you mean." Sliding off the counter, she went to wrap her arms around his waist and lean her head on his chest. His chin came to rest on the top of her head as she listened to his steady heartbeat beneath her ear. "We'll check them both out Saturday," she said. "And then if one or both of them is nothing less than the perfect gentleman, you can have at them, okay?"

Her husband's large, warm hand, which could throw a punch hard enough to shatter ribs yet also delicately stitch together wounds, rubbed up and down her back soothingly. "All right," he sighed, ruffling her loose hair. "When that does happen, may I borrow your _katana_?"

She couldn't help but laugh. Though the Hyuuga family had their faults and foibles, she wouldn't trade a single one of them - well, except maybe Hiashi - for anything.

Especially not her Neji.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ The surprise party scene was _so_ much fun to write. I enjoyed getting Neji and Tenten together in a room with all their friends, so they could spend some time together and catch up, as it were. On another note, did anyone else catch part of the Perseid meteor shower at its peak last night? It was a pretty amazing show! I have to admit, while I was out watching it, I could just imagine Neji and Tenten snuggled up together watching them (and each other)... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!


	4. Saturday

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _SilentMidnight2_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _rao hyuga 18_ , and _Guest_ for all your lovely reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** I've _really_ been looking forward to this chapter. There's some more NejiTen goodness, plus it was fun seeing all the events of Saturday from Neji and Tenten's viewpoint. I actually had to break this chapter into two parts - this half is entirely from Tenten's POV, and the next will be from Neji's. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 ***~Chapter IV~***

 _~Saturday~_

* * *

Tenten's curiosity gnawed at her all week, even during the grocery run she made on Saturday morning, and on her way home. She knew basically everyone in town, and while she had a handful of suspicions about who Hanabi's boyfriend might be, she was clueless about Hinata. The number of dates the younger woman had been on in her lifetime could fit on the fingers of one hand. While she was attractive both inside and out, she hadn't really seemed interested in changing her single status. Plus she had Neji as a cousin, and he could be overprotective at the best of times. Not to mention one of Hinata's best friends was on the local K-9 unit and had a huge dog with sharp teeth, in addition to his gun. That seemed to have done a pretty good job scaring off most of Hinata's prospects over the years.

But there had been something in Hinata's eyes on Monday, when they'd had lunch... Tenten paused with a bag of fresh broccoli in hand, arrested in the act of putting it in the fridge. Whomever Hinata's mysterious boyfriend turned out to be, it was obvious she was already head-over-heels in like (because seriously, wasn't it too soon for love if they'd only recently met?) with him.

While Tenten finished putting away the groceries, she went over a mental list of all the available men in town, particularly among their mutual friends and acquaintances. Kiba was too much like a brother to Hinata; Shino was nice but far too busy (and more interested in his bugs than his lack of a love life); poor Sai wouldn't know a pickup line if it bit him on the nose; Shikamaru was recently unavailable thanks to his blossoming relationship with Ino; and Lee was - well, too _Lee_ for Hinata's tender, laid-back sensibilities. While it was amusing to consider, Tenten didn't really think it a viable possibility. And Choji? No; just - no.

She paused in the middle of the kitchen then, thoughtfully tapping a box of butter against her chin. _What about Naruto?_ Hinata had had a crush on the blond bundle of energy ever since kindergarten, but the feeling never seemed to be mutual. Had Naruto finally stopped being oblivious and noticed what was right under his nose?

 _But would he be able to keep it a secret?_ Tenten shook her head and opened the box to pull out a stick of butter to soften. _There's no way. If Naruto were dating someone, there's no way he wouldn't be shouting it from the rooftops. No, it can't be him, either._

The only other option, then, was someone Tenten didn't know well. As far as she knew, there wasn't anyone new in town. Then again, she'd been so busy planning her wedding, then going through with it and jetting off on her honeymoon, the biggest-name actor in Hollywood could have moved into a castle on her back lawn and she probably would have missed it.

Tenten shook her head and forced herself to switch her thoughts to the menu for the evening. She didn't think she was a particularly great cook, but she knew she was passably good. So she took a chance and made the decision to fix something new, and hopefully impressive, for tonight's guests.

She didn't technically need to start cooking yet, so she went to the family room looking for Neji. From the doorway she saw him sitting in his chair reading an article in one of the many medical periodicals to which he subscribed. Crossing the room on quiet feet, she put a hand on either arm of the chair and bent over to touch her forehead to his. "Hey," she said softly. "I'm back."

Keeping one finger between the pages to mark his place, he let the hand with the periodical dangle over the arm of the chair. "Hey," he said back, tilting his head up to touch the tip of her nose with his, "I didn't hear you come in. The groceries-?"

"Already brought in and put away." She settled onto his lap, put her hands on his shoulders, and dropped a light kiss onto his lips. "Have I ever told you how awfully cute you are when you're all wrapped up in one of your journals?"

"I think you might have mentioned it a time or two." He returned her kiss, his free hand coming to rest on the side of her hip. "Do you need my help in the kitchen?"

"Not just yet. I'm going to get the table all ready first - after I get another couple of these." She kissed him again, more deeply and lingeringly this time. His hand left her hip to work its way under the hem of her top, sliding smoothly up her side until he could brush his thumb caressingly along the outer curve of her breast. She made a little sound of pleasure deep in her throat, her response to his touch flaring hotly through her. Dimly she heard the journal hit the floor as Neji's other hand came up to cup the back of her head.

"Do we have time-?" he asked hoarsely, his breathing coming fast and ragged.

"We'll _make_ time," she replied throatily. Reluctant to leave her husband's embrace, even temporarily, on one level, but quivering internally with excitement, Tenten stood, drawing Neji up after her. Hands intertwined as closely as their bodies soon would be, they hurried up the stairs and into their bedroom.

Noon had come and gone by the time the couple exited the master suite. While Neji went to the kitchen to get started on the salad, Tenten stripped her dining table of its serviceable forest-green tablecloth, replacing it with the ivory one she always used when she and Hinata had guests. It was the first time using the vintage linen in her new home, and the prospect excited her.

After smoothing the cloth and making sure the ends were even, Tenten added a centerpiece of dark purple carnations and verbena with some white baby's breath she'd gotten from Ino on the way home from the grocery store. Taking them out of their careful wrapping, she slid them into an antique cut-glass coffee urn and then settled the whole arrangement in the exact center of the table. _Beautiful_. She made several more trips between the large mahogany hutch - a wedding present from Gai and Lee - to the table, setting it with some of the classically elegant china, silverware, and crystal they'd also received as wedding gifts. Next she folded linen napkins in a fancy way Hinata had taught her, and placed one in the center of each plate.

With one final, approving look over her dining room, she went into the kitchen to get started on her casserole. Neji was just in the process of putting the completed salad in the fridge. He straightened and asked, "What next?"

"The broccoli needs to be washed and trimmed so it can be steamed. I'd appreciate it if you could do that while I'm putting the casserole together. It's in the righthand crisper drawer," she added helpfully as she circled the center island and went to the cabinet to the left of the range. On her way past, she checked the bowl of dough for the dinner rolls sitting there, and was pleased to see it rising nicely. Bending over, she took a kettle from the cabinet and went to the island's sink to fill it with water. Behind her, at the main double sinks, she heard Neji's smooth baritone voice humming a tune. She cocked her head, smiling slightly when she recognized an old Dean Martin song.

Closing her eyes, she swayed to the beat, smiling at the memories the song evoked within her. Neji was a bit old-fashioned, a byproduct of his upbringing and his family's traditions. He listened to music sung by the likes of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, whose voices his own could easily mimic. She'd expanded his music horizons when she introduced him to her own favorites: Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee, Louis Armstrong, and Glenn Miller, the best of big band and swing. She'd even talked him into going to swing classes with her, where his natural grace had made him the star pupil. Tenten had had a good time at the classes, even if her own grace was more evident in other areas of her life. They had given her yet another excuse to spend time with Neji - even better, in his arms - so she definitely didn't complain even though she wasn't the natural dancer she'd hoped to be.

" _Return to Me_." Tenten didn't even realize the name of the song had slipped from her lips until Neji quit humming. She glanced over her shoulder to find him smiling at her, his pale eyes glowing with warm affection.

"That's right." Leaving the bag of broccoli on the counter, Neji crossed the space between them and grabbed her hand, giving her barely enough time to turn off the water faucet before he pulled her away from the island and into his arms. Tenten felt a giggle bubble up into her throat as he slowly danced them around their kitchen, alternately humming the tune and singing the lyrics to the song.

They danced for a few long moments, completely wrapped up in each other in the lingering afterglow of their lovemaking, the song, and the emotions it evoked in both of them. " _Solo tu, solo tu, solo tu, solo tu, mio cuore,_ " he crooned against the top of her head. At the end of the song, he gently spun her back to her place at the center island, then returned to prepare the broccoli as if nothing had happened.

Tenten swallowed another laugh and carried the pot of water to the range. At the moment, as she began assembling the ingredients she needed, she felt completely and wonderfully like a newlywed, and honestly, she couldn't ask for better.

* * *

With only ten minutes left until Hinata, Hanabi, and their dates were set to arrive, Tenten came back downstairs from slipping into a pair of black lounge pants and a black Chinese style top. She'd also traded her frazzled ponytail for a pair of buns atop her head, then put on a little eyeliner and lipstick, and settled some silver hoops in her ears, ready for guests.

She found Neji - already dressed in a pair of slacks and a white button-down, short sleeved shirt - peering through one of the two windows flanking their front door. It was obvious he was watching for their guests to arrive.

"Hinata's here," he reported as Tenten approached. "She's just sitting in her car, though. I guess she's waiting for - _whoever_ to show up."

Swallowing down the urge to laugh at the overprotective look on Neji's face, Tenten stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek before gently nudging him in the direction of the sitting room. "I'll let them in when they get here," she said. "You wait there, and I'll escort them in."

Though he protested, Neji let himself be propelled away from the door. Tenten smiled after his retreating form before settling into his previous post, making sure she could see what was going on outside without being seen herself. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long for something interesting to happen. A bright red sports car pulled up behind Hinata's Old Sensible and parked; at the same time, Hinata got out of her car to walk toward it, waving at the vehicle's occupant.

Leaning a little closer to the window - so close her breath fogged the glass - Tenten held her breath as she waited for the driver of the sports car to climb out.

When he did, she couldn't help but think he looked familiar. Tall with dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin, he wore dressy-casual clothes and kept his attention on Hinata as they walked up the driveway, then across the brick herringbone sidewalk to the front porch.

Lest she be caught watching, Tenten took several rapid steps back and waited until the couple announced their presence via the doorbell before counting to ten and approaching the door. There was no point in letting them know she'd been standing so close, after all.

"Hello!" Tenten blurted as soon as she opened the door. Then she hurried to add, "Come in, come in, please! Make yourselves at home."

Hinata stepped past Tenten into the house, offering a nervous smile as her date followed her in. Tenten noticed the way his dark eyes swept the entryway, taking in the faux crystal chandelier, the woodwork, and the pictures.

"Tenten, this is Sasuke," Hinata introduced, her hand gently falling on her date's arm to draw his attention back to the conversation. "Sasuke, this is Tenten, my best friend and cousin-in-law."

"Pleasure to meet you." Sasuke extended his hand, and Tenten approved of his grip as he shook her hand. It was firm but not painful, and respectfully quick, not lingering. "I've heard quite a bit about you from Hinata."

"All good things, I hope." Tenten knew Sasuke's _real_ test was still ahead as she turned and motioned for them to follow her down a short hall and through a doorway into the sitting room. As the trio entered, she caught a glimpse of Sasuke raising an eyebrow at her extensive weapons collection scattered about the room quite prominently, and wondered what he thought. There did seem to be a vague _Who are these people?_ glaze to his eyes, and she rolled her lips to hide her smile of amusement as she went to stand next to Neji.

Her husband, of course, stood next to the mantle with his arms crossed, back ramrod straight. Tenten knew he was using the weapons collection to his advantage; Neji was trying to project a very dangerous and protective air, just to make sure Sasuke knew from the start he wasn't going to be allowed to let anything slide.

Tenten watched Neji's unmoving, stony expression, searching for any flicker of approval - or worse, _dis_ approval - as Hinata spoke up. "Sasuke, this is my cousin Neji." She shot her relative a narrow-eyed, almost warning look, then went on, "Neji, this is Sasuke."

A giggle pushed its way up Tenten's throat as the two men nodded at each other, slowly and calculatingly, neither offering to shake the other's hand. Tenten waited for a few beats, letting the moment stretch as she waited for Neji to make the first move as host. When he didn't, she jostled her spouse's elbow and raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know with her eyes that it was time to play nice. Unfolding his arms, he took a couple of steps forward, hand reluctantly extended. Sasuke just as reluctantly moved forward to accept it, exchanging a hard, brief grip with Hinata's cousin. They stepped back from each other more quickly than they had approached.

Hinata watched the proceedings with an anxious look on her face, then glanced to her cousin-in-law. _Does he disapprove that much?_ her eyes asked. Giving her friend a reassuring smile, Tenten watched some of the tension in Neji's shoulders ease as he noted the same thing about Sasuke's handshake she had earlier. Things seemed to be going fairly well, if she didn't say so herself.

Tenten caught Sasuke eyeing her weapons collection again, interspersing quick looks at Neji, and decided to relieve the poor man's mind. "Those are mine," she told him, including everything in the room with an expansive gesture. "I collect all manner of weapons, and since I work at an antique store, I get an amazing employee discount that allows me to feed my hobby." Some might argue it was more of an obsession than a hobby, but bless Neji, he never did. In fact, he downright indulged her, and had given her a beautiful wakizashi as a wedding gift. The short sword, used in very close-range combat since it was shorter than a katana and thus had more maneuverability, possessed a highly detailed tooled grip and a razor-sharp blade that gleamed in the light. It was the crowning jewel of her collection and, she knew, _very_ expensive.

"Tenten knows how to use every single one of them," Neji stated, pride resounding in his voice. "I don't think we'll ever have to worry about anyone breaking into the house."

Tenten felt a blush overtake her face as she waved off her husband's praise. "It's just a hobby." Clearing her throat, she quickly changed the subject, deflecting the attention off herself. "How did the book signing go on Wednesday?"

If Sasuke was surprised she'd recognized him as the famous author, he didn't show it. "It was - crazy," he admitted, tucking his hands into his pockets nervously. "I had no idea so many people _lived_ in Konoha and the surrounding towns."

"Sasuke was kind enough to stay past the two-hour mark to make sure everyone got their books signed." Hinata smiled up at him, the warm admiration obvious in her eyes; it was clear she positively adored Sasuke, which surprised Tenten in a way. "It was extremely kind of him."

Pink spread across his cheekbones as Sasuke replied modestly, "I kind of lost track of time, to be honest. I didn't even realize it was past the original cut-off point until Tsunade closed the door behind the last few people."

Awkward silence reigned for a few moments, stretching tightly as everyone carefully avoided looking at each other. When Tenten couldn't take it any longer, she cleared her throat and smiled. "Dinner will be ready in about half an hour. Do you want something to drink until then? We've got water, several different kinds of tea, soda, lemonade...?" She trailed off, trying not to mention coffee. Neji hadn't made a pot since he'd cleaned the house, and she was hoping to keep the skunky smell at bay until after her guests left.

"Nothing for me, thanks." Sasuke smiled at Tenten in obvious relief, shaking his head as he shifted slightly to peer closer at a nearby katana behind its shield of glass.

Hinata had just opened her mouth when a loud rumbling sound, like growing thunder, cut her off. All four occupants of the room turned toward the front door, beyond which the sound rapidly grew from a snarling rumble to a complete roar.

 _Oh no._ Please _tell me that's not what I think that is_. "What in the _world_ -?" Tenten hurried past her guests back out into the hall. She felt the others fall in right behind her as she reached out for the doorknob, praying she had misidentified the sound outside.

As soon as she caught sight of the motorcycle sitting in the driveway, Tenten couldn't help but let out a half-gasp, half-snort as she stepped back so the others could see past her. _Oh, yeah, Neji is_ not _going to be happy._

When Hanabi took off her helmet and stepped off the motorcycle to let the driver dismount, Tenten dared a look in her husband's direction. _Correction: he's_ already _not happy._

Tenten felt the whole evening falling to pieces around her.

 _How can I possibly salvage this?_

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ I have this little headcanon in the _Entanglements_ universe where, after Hizashi died, Neji went through all his things and found some old records, and he would listen to them over and over and over again. He loves the crooners like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra because his father did, and listening to/singing the songs makes him feel closer to Hizashi. And big band/swing is just so upbeat, I could so easily picture Tenten loving that kind of music. Also, _Return to Me_ is a great song, and very important to this story - and I love the idea of Neji spontaneously breaking into song and dancing his wife around the kitchen, with only the two of them knowing he does it, since he projects such a businesslike air to everyone else. I really loved writing this chapter, and I hope it was as much fun to read for you all. Thanks for doing so, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!


	5. Lecture

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _SilentMidnight2_ , _Guest_ , _HeavenlySwirl_ , _rao hyuga 18_ , and _Umi-chan_ for all the reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** Ah, I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 ***~Chapter IV~***

 _~Lecture~_

* * *

 _A_ motorcycle? _Hanabi_ actually _got on a_ motorcycle _, knowing how I feel about them?_

Neji felt his blood pressure elevating rapidly as he stared at his younger cousin and the boy she'd been riding with on the deathtrap. He sensed the surprise of the other three people standing in the doorway with him, but it came no where near the outrage he felt. It couldn't, because they hadn't seen what he'd seen.

They hadn't seen the missing limbs, asphalt burns, shattered bones, and other, even more gruesome, injuries Neji had dealt with in the emergency room as he treated victims of motorcycle crashes. The thought of one day seeing his cousin as one of those people whose lives had been utterly destroyed chilled his bood at the same time as it made him burning hot with fury and disappointment.

Hanabi and her boyfriend casually strolled toward the front door as if they hadn't just come roaring up on something so _dangerous_. Neji drew in a deep, sharp breath when he recognized his cousin's date as the former mayor's grandson - a boy he would have _thought_ would have had much more sense, and a better upbringing, than to own a motorcycle, never mind ride it. (Even if his uncle _did_ own a motorcycle shop.)

"Hello," Hanabi greeted them cheerfully as she and Konohamaru ascended the porch steps.

Though Neji saw her through a fog of disbelief and anger, he could still read the message practically screaming from Hanabi's eyes: _Please,_ please _don't freak out too much_.

It was too late for that! Neji opened his mouth to let Hanabi _and_ Konohamaru have it - which one would get the brunt, he wasn't quite sure - but was interrupted by Hinata as she smoothly greeted the pair. "Hello, Hanabi. You're early."

 _She_ is _early,_ Neji realized after glancing at his watch. It proved just how good an impression she wished to make (mostly for his benefit, he suspected), since Hanabi always seemed to show up late wherever she went. It was a chronic condition, one for which Neji unfortunately knew of no medical cure.

"Yeah, just a little." Hanabi stopped on the porch, since the doorway was blocked by her gawking relatives (plus Sasuke). "This is Sarutobi Konohamaru. Konohamaru, this is my cousin Neji, his wife Tenten, my sister Hinata, and her date-" She stopped abruptly, her mouth and pale eyes popping so wide she looked vaguely like a goldfish. " _Uchiha Sasuke_!" she finished on a distinct screech. "You're dating _Uchiha Sasuke_?!" she demanded of Hinata.

Despite his anger, Neji felt a flash of amusement at the way Hinata's polite smile froze on her face. At least he hadn't been the only one to feel a jolt of shock when the town's resident horror novelist came strolling into the sitting room as if he were some regular mortal and not a recluse upon which a thousand local legends had been built.

"And you're dating the late mayor's grandson," Hinata replied calmly. Neji marveled at his cousin's ability to keep her head about her in the situation. Out of the corner of his eye, he didn't miss Konohamaru's slight twitch or Hanabi's quick frown as Hinata continued, "It seems we both had our reasons for keeping mum until now."

Hanabi tugged on a loose lock of her hair. "Yeah," she admitted. "Now then, can we come in, or...?" she trailed off pointedly.

Everyone shuffled out of the way, Tenten's slim, strong hand on Neji's arm keeping him from losing his cool the way he wanted to as they made room for the newcomers. Hanabi grabbed Konohamaru's hand and pulled him into the house after her. "Love the wind chimes, by the way," she told Tenten on the way past. She added, "And that's a _nice_ car," as an aside to Sasuke.

Sticking close to Hinata's side as if he were a burr under a saddle, Sasuke smiled politely and thanked Hanabi. Neji, who wasn't sure whether he should keep a closer eye on the novelist or the motorcyclist, could tell the Uchiha wasn't quite sure what to think of all this. To Neji's surprise, he saw a flash in Sasuke's eyes which indicated he was wondering if he should run from this loony bunch now, while the door was still open and clear.

Tenten closed it then, though, and Neji never got to find out if Sasuke seriously meant to bolt or not. Turning her back to the door, the doctor's wife smiled a little _too_ brightly at the group around her and announced pleasantly, "Dinner will be ready in just a bit. If you guys would like to adjourn to the sitting room until then...?" Using her hand, still on Neji's arm, she pointedly nudged him in that direction. Her brown eyes pleaded with him to play nice - _again_ \- as she sent Hinata look he recognized well: the women would not be joining the men in the sitting room. Instead, they would be having a very interesting discussion in the kitchen.

Sure enough, as Neji led Sasuke and Konohamaru toward the sitting room, he saw Tenten neatly snag Hanabi's arm and tug her into the kitchen. Hinata, curiosity burning in her pale eyes, followed quickly, leaving him with the interlopers.

That suited him just fine. As he led the way into the sitting room and its display of weaponry, he tried to decide which one needed a discussion first. Because they were both going to get one, there would be no escaping that. Neji just needed to decide which one required it more urgently.

When they reached their destination, Sasuke gravitated toward the bookcase along the wall next to the doorway, looking a bit like a kid in a candy store at the sheer number of books Neji and Tenten had collected. Neji decided to leave the author where he was - he'd probably be occupied reading titles for a while, and thus be less likely to run off - and focused his attention on Konohamaru.

The kid looked worried (and he should be!) as Neji led the way to the corner of the room opposite Sasuke. "A motorcycle," Neji said, deciding to cut right to the chase. "You brought my cousin here on a _motorcycle._ "

Konohamaru visibly gulped. "Yes sir?"

"Surely Hanabi has informed you of how I feel about motorcycles." Neji once again had to shove away thousands of unpleasant images, courtesy of various classes at university and then time being a practicing physician in the emergency room.

"Ah - she might have mentioned your general aversion to them, yes sir." Konohamaru's eyes were now wide enough to rival Tenten's dinner plates in size.

 _General aversion?_ Had Neji actually repeated the words aloud, he very likely would have choked on them. "It is more than just an _aversion_. I work in Konoha General Hospital, specifically in the emergency room. I have seen too many motorcyle accidents to count. Those things are a menace to society in general and their riders in particular! I have seen blacktop burns, severed limbs, severe head trauma, and I have even _lost patients_ to motorcycle accidents. If you want to put yourself in danger, that is your decision. But how can you even _think_ of putting my cousin at such risk?"

Konohamaru straightened his shoulders slightly and lifted his eyes to meet Neji's. "I have been riding with my uncle since I was three. I learned how to ride a motorcycle before I was taught how to drive a car. I promise you, Dr. Hyuuga, I _do_ know what I am doing. I stay vigilant every moment to make sure I don't do anything to put Hanabi in danger." He hesitated for a moment, as if weighing his next words and the wisdom of saying them, before continuing. "I love your cousin. Hanabi has brightened up my life in areas I hadn't even realized were darkened. She gives me strength and courage. And her spirit burns so brightly, I don't want to do anything which might threaten to smother it. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, sir, and I promise you, even if I didn't, I still wouldn't do anything which I felt might take her away from her family, whom she loves dearly - _or_ me, whom I hope she loves the same way."

Neji rocked back on his heels slightly, surprised at the strength and maturity in Konohamaru's response. Though he was the former mayor's son, and thus had something of a family reputation to uphold, Neji had always heard rumors that he liked to live a little on the edge. He'd been raised by his uncle Asuma, who owned a shop where he repaired, sold, and detailed motorcycles, and had always been called the black sheep of the family.

But his response sliced straight through Neji's arguments - and his anger. Though he was still quite unsettled at the thought of Hanabi riding on one of those deathtraps, he had to admit Konohamaru wasn't anything like the doctor figured he'd be. "I admire the maturity in your response, Konahamaru," he admitted. "And while I acknowledge you have brought up good points to support your argument, I still feel very unsettled at the idea of Hanabi on a motorcycle."

"I understand, sir." Konohamaru nodded, nothing but honesty on his face and in his eyes. "If it makes you feel any better, doctor, it was Hanabi's idea to ride the cycle tonight. I wanted to leave it at home and take her car instead, but she insisted we should come on it so you all would know everything straight from the start." He shrugged. "For the most part, we do ride in her car. But sometimes, yes, we take my motorcycle. I promise, though, I will always be extra careful. I know what can happen, and I don't intend on doing anything to encourage it happening to Hanabi and me."

"Very well," Neji conceded. He wouldn't protest Hanabi's seeing Konohamaru - for now. "But if you ever make her cry, break her heart, or hurt her in any way, I promise you, Tenten isn't the only one with a variety of sharp instruments at her disposal. I will-"

Sadly, he didn't get to finish his threat, since Hinata chose that moment to appear in the doorway. Clearing her throat loudly, she informed the occupants of the room at large, "Dinner's ready."

Neji shot Konohamaru another disgruntled look - just to make sure his threat, spoken _and_ unspoken - was understood, then headed toward the doorway and his cousin. "Tenten and Hanabi still in the kitchen?" he asked.

"Just getting the last dishes on the table." She caught Neji's arm on his way past. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered, "Hanabi really does love him, Neji. After we leave, have Tenten tell you what happened in the kitchen," then smiled at Konohamaru.

Neji moved past her to the kitchen, where he found Tenten just pulling the casserole out of the oven. "Could you please grab that bowl?" she asked, nodding to the specified item sitting on the counter. As he picked it up, he nudged at the cloth covering it, inhaling the scent of freshly baked dinner rolls. Allowing the cloth to drop again, he followed Tenten into the dining room, catching the tail end of Sasuke's offer to sign one his books for Konohamaru before the evening was over.

" _After_ we eat," Tenten told the boys sternly. She set the casserole dish down on the wrought-iron trivets already on the table, then smiled as she slipped off her protective gloves and set them aside. "For now, everyone sit down and get it while it's hot."

Neji took his seat at the head of the table and looked around to see how the rest of the seating at the table had shaken out. Sasuke slid into his chair between Tenten, at the opposite end of the table from her husband, and Hinata, which put him across from Konohamaru, with Hanabi between him and Neji.

As the dishes made their way around the table, Neji kept his thoughtful silence and cut looks in both his cousins' directions, watching how they interacted with their own and each others' dates. Hanabi grinned and chattered on as if nothing bothered her, the bracelets lining her arm jingling with each movement of her hand. Konohamaru sat looking around with a wary expression (which Sasuke, amusingly enough, mirrored), as if he expected someone to throw a fork at him at any moment. Tenten looked cheerful and radiant as always, smiling at all the people around her table like the proud hostess she was.

"So," Hanabi said with a downright wicked grin in her sister's direction, "how did you two meet, hmm? I get the feeling there's a _fascinating_ story just waiting to be told."

Neji perked up slightly at his younger cousin's question. He'd been wondering the exact same thing, though he figured Tenten would be the one to ask. He shifted his attention to Sasuke and Hinata, finding he very much looked forward to hearing this particular story.

Clearing her throat, Hinata shot a quick look in Sasuke's direction before she began to speak. "Well, Hanabi, it happened something like this. Sasuke came into the library several times in disguise to sneak books off the shelf and sequester himself in a corner to read them. I officially met him at the meet and greet, but found out not that long after I already knew him, even if just as a man wearing too loose clothing, a hat pulled down low over his face, and sunglasses."

A gleam of mischief flashed through Sasuke's eyes as he murmured, "Actually, after talking me into taking out new library cards, she drove my profaning presence from her library once she realized my identity. I inadvertently left the new cards behind, and the following Sunday she braved the spooky mansion on the hill and its occupant to bring them to me - which displayed quite a bit of courage, I thought."

At Sasuke's side, Hinata turned several shades of pink before finally settling on deep rose. Shaking her head slightly, she offered first her date, then everyone else, a rueful smile.

Neji found himself following the lead of the rest of his guests and sat there staring at the pair of them. _Well, that was very unexpected._ His shy cousin usually kept silent or voiced agreement she didn't feel to keep the peace, at least when she'd been younger. But clearly Hinata was not the same person she'd used to be - if she were, there was no way she would have had the guts to chase off one of the most renowned authors in the country.

Sasuke cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him, before adding, "Well, that's _mostly_ the way it happened. I never actually wore sunglasses. _In_ the library, anyway."

Hanabi was the first to break the silence with a half-giggle, half-snort which she quickly hid in her glass of iced tea.

"That's not quite how I had that pictured," Tenten said, a strange expression on her face. Neji wondered if his own mirrored it. "It's not really very..." She trailed off, as if unable to find the word for which she searched.

"Romantic?" Hanabi offered.

"Perhaps not, but that's how it happened." Hinata picked up her own tea glass and took an unruffled sip. "One thing led to another, and here we all are."

As if wanting to turn the attention away from herself and Sasuke, Hinata turned to her sister and smiled. "How about _you_? How did you and Konohamaru meet?"

"At school," Hanabi replied instantly, in a _duh_ tone. "We've been in a _lot_ of the same classes since we were in fifth grade."

"The first thing I noticed about her was her hair," Konohamaru admitted. He smiled crookedly and added, "That one strand hanging down between her eyes always made me want to just flip it off her face. I thought it would drive her crazy, but I never got up the courage to do it."

"He did, however, ask me to senior prom," Hanabi finished. "We've been going out ever since."

"That's only a few months." Neji set down his fork and wrinkled his brow. "Not very long at all." For some reason, he'd been thinking the pair been seeing each other a _lot_ longer. Konohamaru had claimed to love Hanabi, but how deep could their affection for each other truly be if they hadn't been in a relationship all that long?

Hanabi looked back at her cousin with raised eyebrows and queried, "And how long did _you_ know Tenten before you fell in love with her?"

Neji felt the tips of his ears go red. Though he'd not told anybody so, he'd loved Tenten from the moment he first saw her in the second grade. It had taken all his patience to wait until they were fifteen to ask her out. They dated all through high school, and then Neji had proposed the summer before they went to college. Theirs had been a long engagement, but he knew they'd both known from the start marriage was the undeniable outcome of their relationship.

He decided not to ask any more questions of Hanabi, lest he get himself in trouble.

"How did you manage to go to senior prom without Hiashi finding out?" Tenten asked, drawing Neji's attention back to the subject at hand.

Hanabi answered with a careless wave of her hand. "I just told him I was going out to a friend's house. I already had my dress and shoes in the trunk of my car, so I went over to Moegi's house, and she helped me do my hair and makeup. Then Konohamaru and Udon picked us both up at her house. I spent the night at Moegi's, too, just to be safe."

Sighing quietly into his glass, Neji grimly thought about what Hyuuga Hiashi would think of all these goings on behind his back. He could tell Hinata and Tenten didn't seem to disapprove, though Neji couldn't help but do so himself. As much as he hated his uncle's tight-fisted and oppressive attitude toward everything his children and nephew did, he also didn't like the idea of Hanabi sneaking around under her father's nose. It was bound to cause far more trouble if news of it were ever to reach his ears.

Hanabi certainly had guts, though, Neji had to give her that much.

Things got quiet for a few moments then as everyone concentrated on their food. Just as Neji was beginning to think things were calming down and the rest of the evening might even pass without incident or further bombshells, Hinata blurted, "I'm going to New York."

Everyone at the table went completely silent as all eyes went to Hinata. She blushed under their regard but did not back down. "We're leaving two weeks from today, on the sixteenth."

"'We'?" Hanabi picked up on the plural rather quickly, managing to repeat the word - with excitement rather than disapproval - before Neji. A catlike grin curled her lips. "And who, sister dear, is the other part of this 'we'?"

"Me," Sasuke said. All eyes immediately went to him, and he shrank just a little beneath their gazes. Obviously he wasn't used to, and didn't like, all the attention being on him. But before anyone could say anything in response to his words, he straightened his shoulders with visible effort and firmed his gaze. "The newest movie based on one of my books, _Head Shot_ , premieres in New York on August twenty-first, you see, and I invited Hinata to come along with me. We'll attend the red carpet premiere, we'll go to the shops on Fifth Avenue, and we'll even take in a show on Broadway."

Hanabi cleared her throat and grinned. "Sounds like fun," she said brightly. "Don't suppose you have room for someone else?" She winked. "You _do_ have a free arm for an extra escort, right?"

"Hey!" Konohamaru protested with a laugh. "What about me, Hanabi?"

"You'll be walking the red carpet soon enough," his girlfriend replied with a proud smile. "I just want to get in a little practice before then so I don't embarrass you, that's all."

"I promise to give you tips when we get back," Hinata told her sister.

Tenten smiled and added, "We'll _all_ watch you walk down the red carpet and take notes. You're invited to come over that night," she told Konohamaru and Hanabi. "It'll be fun to watch a couple of people we actually _know_ walk the red carpet. I've always wanted to say I know somebody who has - and now I can!" Snatching up her glass of tea, she lifted it and smiled at Sasuke and Hinata, no hint of anger or disapproval in her eyes. "To Sasuke and Hinata, and having a great time in New York," she proposed.

"Hear, hear," the others at the table echoed - even Neji, though he still had his reservations. But he knew how much Hinata had always wanted to go to New York in general, the Empire State Building in particular, and he couldn't find it in himself to be _too_ upset at the news she was getting her wish.

He waited until everyone had finished the toast to voice the question nagging at the back of his mind. "When are you going to tell Uncle?"

Hinata looked down at the napkin in her lap and fidgeted with it, all the brightness leaving her expression. "Um, I, ah, already have," she finally admitted in a very low voice.

Neji couldn't quite hide his wince at the barely-concealed pain in his cousin's voice. He had been on the receiving end of Hiashi's blistering reprimands and icy disapproval, and he hated the thought of his gentle cousin catching the brunt of them.

Hanabi said in a tone that tried to sound flippant, but failed, "So, did dear old Dad cast you from the family like he did Neji?"

"Not in so many words, but more or less." She looked at Neji, an uncertain smile wavering on her lips. "I took your example, big brother. I'm not going to let him control my life any longer."

"Hinata," Sasuke said, very low but still loudly enough everyone else could hear him, "I don't want to be the cause of a rift between you and your father."

"You aren't," Neji said firmly. Before he could think to wonder why he was offering the man such reassurance, he added, "Uncle is. It's _his_ choice to disassociate from anyone who won't bow to his unreasonable demands." The truth of those words resonated deep inside him, making him know he'd done the right thing in voicing his thoughts.

For a while after he'd proposed to Tenten and been cut off by Hiashi, Neji had hated himself. He'd blamed himself for the rift in the Hyuuga family, but eventually realized his uncle was the one who had caused the break. Not Neji, and not Tenten. Hiashi was the one responsible for the unrest and dissonance in the Hyuuga family. Though sometimes it was hard to remember that, Neji vowed he would never forget to remind his cousins about that very important point.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ This chapter was great to write, since I wanted to do it for _Entanglements_ but just couldn't find a way to fit it in. I'd originally planned for Neji and Konohamaru's conversation to go differently, but they just kind of took over when I started typing and you see the final result (I like it better than my original plan, to be honest). Thank you so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!


	6. Fair

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Guest (1)_ , _Guest (2)_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _SilentMidnight2_ , _Ami1010_ , and _rao hyuga 18_ for all your lovely reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** I love this chapter. Neji and Hinata get to have _the conversation_ which has been looming since the wedding in _Entanglements_ , and I really did enjoy writing it. I hope you all enjoy it, too, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter VI~***

 _~Fair~_

* * *

Two weeks before Hinata was scheduled to leave on her New York trip, Konoha's fairgrounds filled with the equipment associated with the area's annual county fair. The rides were the first to arrive; then booths with their unique and colorful wares; then finally the trucks and campers filled to the brim with their variety of foodstuffs.

Tenten fought the urge to fidget as she watched one of the clocks hanging on the wall at the antique shop. Gai obsessively set them all each morning, so each and every one was exactly on time, but Tenten felt they were all creeping along _far too slowly_. It was one of the rare Saturdays she had to work in the shop; though her boss had considered closing because of the fair, he'd decided to let her run the shop while he and Sai took turns manning the booth they'd set up.

 _Only fifteen more minutes till closing. I can do this._ It didn't help that the shop had been dead quiet all day, since most people were at the fairgrounds instead of shopping in town. And since Neji had the whole weekend off, she'd rather looked forward to spending it with him.

But, of course, things hadn't turned out that way. At least the shop was closed on Sunday, so Tenten had Saturday evening and all the next day to spend with her husband.

 _Thirteen more minutes._ Tenten picked up a feather duster and slipped from behind the counter, deciding she had might as well use her last few minutes productively. Despite the fact everything in the store was already spotless, she attacked imaginary dust as she squelched the urge to start counting the seconds until she could lock the door and head for home.

The county fair held special significance for Tenten: it was the first date on which Neji had taken her. He'd won her a cute little stuffed pug (which she still had), taken her on rides like the Tilt-O-Whirl (even though he'd looked a little green after they got off), and bought her a beautiful pair of dragon earrings she wore as often as not. He'd been nice enough to share a spicy Bloomin' Onion with her, though he very politely refused the funnel cake. She'd gotten him to take a few bites of cotton candy since, but she knew he wasn't a big fan of sweets, unlike her, so she didn't push.

This year, however, they weren't going it alone. Neji had invited his cousins and their boyfriends along for the Saturday night craziness. Hinata, Hanabi, and Konohamaru had all eagerly accepted, but Sasuke had politely begged off, citing the quickly-approaching deadline for his book as an excuse not to go. Tenten figured that was probably only part of the reason why he'd declined; Hinata had told her Sasuke really didn't like crowds of people, and he'd had more than his fill recently thanks to the book signing. Plus with the upcoming New York trip, he probably wanted to enjoy his solitude as much as possible.

Tenten nibbled her lower lip and hoped Hinata wouldn't feel like a fifth-wheel. She knew her cousin-in-law was perfectly content doing things on her own, but being on an outing with two couples without her own date by her side might be a little - _awkward_.

She glanced up at the clock. _Okay, eight more minutes. I can do this._ Tenten carefully swept the duster over the shop's newest art aquisition, a pretty painting done in pastels. Though she had no idea who'd painted it or what it was called, the pastoral scene gave her a kind of peaceful feeling inside. She wasn't really big into art, but she wouldn't mind having that painting hanging somewhere in her house. She liked the tranquil emotions it evoked.

After a last appreciative glance at the painting - Sai had done particularly well choosing that one - Tenten moved on to a beautiful lady's writing desk with intricate scrollwork along the legs and sides. It had come from an estate sale in New York, where Gai had deftly fended off much competition to pick up many good pieces. Only the desk and a lovely set of delicate bone china were left from everything he'd brought back with him.

Gai had also brought home several stories from that trip, making Tenten wish she hadn't missed out on the opportunity. She didn't go on buying trips often - mostly just when there were weapons involved - but she wished she'd gone along on that one, even with the lack of weapons.

At last the clocks chimed the hour, and Tenten hurried to lock the front door and switch the sign to "Sorry, we're closed" before going to retrieve her keys and bag from the back room. After engaging the security system and making sure the door was securely locked behind her, she headed home.

She found her husband on the back porch when she got there. Tenten stood at the back door and watched as Neji, sitting absolutely still in one of the deck chairs, became a perch for a curious bird, which ate birdseed directly out of the doctor's hand. More followed suit, and she once again marveled at her husband's patience for his favorite hobby. He'd gotten her to try it once, but either she hadn't stayed still enough or the birds didn't like her, since the only bird to come close had been a hummingbird which had buzzed past her head like a little fighter plane. Apparently she'd been sitting a little too close to its feeder for the bird's taste.

When the birds finally grew tired of his company and flew away, Neji stood and came to the door. "Welcome home."

Tenten made sure the birds hadn't made too big a mess of her husband before leaning in to kiss him. "Did you have fun with your feathered friends today?" she asked as he closed the door behind himself.

" _Hn_. I actually got one of the hummingbirds to drink from that special handheld feeder I got. They usually tend to steer clear of me, but that one actually got friendly. You should have seen the colors on that bird - one of the most beautiful specimens I've ever seen." Neji headed to the kitchen to wash his hands and arms, smiling at the memory.

Neji's fascination with everything feathered never ceased to amaze Tenten, especially when she watched him sit still for hours in an effort to attract them. With such a stressful job as his, he needed something to help him unwind, and spending time with his feathered friends always seemed to achieve the desired effect. Tenten couldn't even be jealous of his time and attention to them, because the joy and peace on his face at the end of one of his visits was a relief. The last thing she wanted was for Neji to burn out on the job he felt so called to do.

"How did things go at the shop?" Neji asked as he dried his hands.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Dead boring," she replied with a groan. "Everyone in town is at the fair, which means no one wanted to go antique shopping. I had a couple of calls from contacts of Gai's - one in New York, and one in London - but other than that, I didn't see hide nor hair of anyone the whole time the shop was open. I don't even really know _why_ the shop was open today, but I'm not the boss, so..." She trailed off and shrugged eloquently.

Neji glanced at the clock, then back to Tenten. "You were in the shop for eight hours all by yourself? If I'd known, I would have come over and kept you company."

"Nah, that's okay. You don't get the weekend off very often, so I want you to enjoy it." And it was clear from Neji's relaxed stance, his clear eyes, and the smile on his face that he had. They would have enjoyed spending time together, no doubt, but Neji had needed his time with the birds after a particularly stressful week at the ER. "We still have an hour before we have to leave."

"Do you want to eat here or there?" Neji asked.

Tenten replied, "There, of course! Going to the fair is no fun if you don't partake of the treats."

He laughed and pulled her to himself so he could kiss her.

* * *

Even the promise of sunset didn't offer relief from the early-August heat as Neji and Tenten met up with Hinata, Hanabi, and Konohamaru at the very edge of the huge field marked off for parking. After the women shared hugs and the men handshakes, the group headed into the crowd filling the spacious walkways between rows of booths.

Neji followed his wife and cousins, who had linked arms and were laughing together as they expertly wove their way through the Saturday night crowd. In a little while it would thin out as a local band put on a concert at the opposite end of the field from the parking lot, but until then, it was hard to move without bumping into at least two people at a time.

Too bad he and Tenten hadn't had a chance to come earlier in the week, before things got truly crazy.

"You and Tenten going to go to the concert?" Konohamaru asked. Though he didn't seem as intimidated by Neji as he had been a week ago, there was still a certain wariness about his expression and posture.

Good. Neji didn't want the kid getting too comfortable. "No, probably not. What about you and Hanabi?"

Konohamaru shook his head. "We talked about it, but she really wants to spend time with Hinata before she goes to New York. Family is important to her, you know?" He hesitated, then sighed. "She told her father we're dating. She didn't give me too many details, but from the look on her face, I can tell it didn't go well."

Neji winced, wondering why Hanabi hadn't said anything to him. Hinata probably knew, but if she'd told Tenten, he would have heard about it. Despite the smile on Hanabi's face, he could see the tension in his cousin's eyes and knew she was having trouble shaking off whatever Hiashi had told her. It likely hadn't been pretty; in fact, Neji figured it was probably just as bad as he and Hinata had already faced.

He set his jaw and recommitted himself right then and there to doing everything he could to be there for his cousins in a way their father never had been - and, sadly, probably never would be.

"It's probably just as well she didn't tell you everything," Neji told Konohamaru when he realized the kid was waiting for a response. "My uncle can be ruthless in business, but in his real life he is absolutely heartless. His words are a weapon, one he does not hesitate to use if he hears something he doesn't like." Arranged marriages were antiquated, granted, but Neji had harbored suspicions more than once that Hiashi had been thinking about such a thing for his daughters. Hiashi's business was his life, and if he felt a marriage would strengthen his ties, he wouldn't hesitate to go through with it.

Fortuantely, Neji knew his cousins would have fought against the arrangements. It would have torn apart their family, granted, but such a thing appeared to be inevitable. At least this way Hinata and Hanabi could be happy with the men they loved.

Tenten glanced over her shoulder. "Come on, slowpokes!" she called. "We're gonna get some food, and I _know_ you don't want to miss the funnel cakes, Neji." She laughed at his responding grimace, then winked at him and turned back to her cousins-in-law.

"Not a fan?" Konohamaru asked with a smile.

"Not really. I don't like spicy or overly sweet food. But I usually give in and split a Bloomin' Onion with Tenten - it's kind of a tradition. Funnel cakes and cotton candy, however, are out." Neji smothered his shudder as Tenten snagged his hand and tugged him toward the same cart they'd faithfully visited since their very first fair together. Hanabi and Konohamaru got in line for buffalo burgers, and Hinata joined the group of people gathered around the huge barrel-shaped smoker which was rumored to produce some of the best barbeque in the world.

Fifteen minutes later, the group met up again and wandered the tent full of picnic tables until they finally found one with five seats all together.

Tenten swirled a piece of her breaded onion in the ranch sauce between her and Neji, then bit into it and moaned. "I didn't think it was possible, but these things get better and better every year. How're your buffalo burgers?"

Hanabi thoughtfully chewed hers as Konohamaru happily tucked into his with the gusto of one who'd had such a meal many times before. "It's - interesting," she said. "I think at the end of this experience I'll be glad I tried one, but I doubt I'll get one again."

Licking a stray drop of barbeque sauce off her thumb, Hinata shook her head. "You're braver than me, little sis. I wouldn't try one of those things if you paid me. I just can't imagine eating something which at one time was so big and - well, fluffy." She shuddered delicately and reached for her plastic cup full of strawberry lemonade.

"I'm trying not to think about that." Hanabi took another bite and chewed slowly, an entertaining array of emotions flitting across her face. "Hmm. You so totally owe me some cotton candy after this, Konohamaru."

"I think I might get some cotton candy this year, too." Tenten popped another piece of onion in her mouth and rolled her eyes in obvious enjoyment. "I usually get funnel cake, but variety is the spice of life, right?"

The rest of the meal passed in relative silence. When Konohamaru and Hanabi got up to go get the cotton candy, Tenten went with them, the trio carrying the trash to toss in one of the trash cans lining the tent along the way.

Neji put his hand on Hinata's arm when she started to get up. "I'd like to talk to you for a minute," he said.

Hinata sagged a little and sighed. "I knew this was coming," she said. "Go on, get it over with."

He frowned. "You're not in _trouble,_ Hinata. I just wanted to talk about what you did for us, what you gave up to make sure Tenten and I had the wedding of our dreams. Striking that deal with Uncle Hiashi..." he shook his head. "It's not that we don't appreciate it, but neither of us wanted you to give up _your_ happiness in exchange for ours."

Spinning her mostly-empty cup in her hands, Hinata shook her head. "You know, at the time, I thought it'd be like that, too. But it's really not been bad, Neji. Hanabi and I have had our disagreements - we're sisters, it's what we do - but it's also been a _good_ thing. Being out from under Father's direct influence has allowed us to get to know each other better, and we're really becoming friends now, too."

Letting out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Neji didn't find it too hard to dredge up a smile. "That's good. I thought the two of you seemed to be getting along much better at dinner last week, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't misreading the situation."

"You weren't." Hinata took another long drink, wincing when air rasped through her straw. Making a face at her cup, she carefully set it back on the damp ring on the table where it had been sitting. She turned to face her cousin again. "When I gave in to Father's demands, I have to admit, I thought it was going to be terrible. I thought Hanabi and I were going to be at each other's throats constantly, that it was going to be one argument after another. But it hasn't been _anything_ like that. Like I said - we're not just sisters, we're friends. This is one of those cases where something good came out of what could have been a very bad situation."

Neji gave his cousin a one-armed hug and kissed the side of her head. "I'm glad," he told her honestly. And he was. He'd hated all those years growing up, watching the way Hiashi would do or say subtle things to turn one sister against the other. His uncle had tried it with Neji, too, but the older teen had never risen to the bait. He just wished now he'd tried harder to help his cousins through it, instead of going to each one separately and trying to be there for both of them, hoping it wouldn't be the thing to knock over their precarious house of cards.

Hiashi, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be trying to force his family away from himself and each other. Though it grieved Neji to realize it, he knew there was nothing any of them could do about it.

The only thing they could do was grow closer together and be there for each other, no matter what.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes**_ : Bloomin' Onions are my favorite fair food. _Ever_. I've never actually tried a Buffalo Burger, but I love BBQ and funnel cakes are pretty good. Even though Neji and Hinata's conversation turned out much shorter than I'd anticipated - I'd written several versions, though this one worked best - I still liked it. I like the understanding they have with each other, playing off their brother-sister bond. Not a _whole_ lot of NejiTen in this chapter, but I promise more is coming soon! Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!


	7. Discussions

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _SilentMidnight2_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , and _rao hyuga 18_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** Not much to say about this chapter, other than the scene at the end was one of the first to pop in my head when I was thinking about writing this story. I hope you like it, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter VII~***

 _~Discussions~_

* * *

By the time Tenten took her lunch break on Wednesday afternoon following the fair, she decided that, with the steady influx of all the out-of-town antique hunters, the entire _world_ was trying to make up for not visiting the antique shop the week before.

She and Gai met themselves coming and going from opening time till closing time on Monday and Tuesday. The latter, in fact, had been so busy neither of them had gotten a lunch break at all. Gai had already spent half his time on the phone today with informants telling him of excellent pieces in various locations around the world. He'd split the rest of his time among looking at pictures, doing research, and helping Tenten assist what seemed like hordes of customers descending on the shop. _Madhouse_ didn't begin to cover it.

Sai, the lucky man, was out of town on yet another buying trip. As soon as he got back, Tenten would wring his pale, scrawny neck for skipping out on them on what was turning out to be three of the busiest days of the year so far.

Slumping at the table in the back room, Tenten propped her aching head on her hand and took a moment to appreciate the relative peace and quiet of the breakroom. The only sounds were the muffled voices coming through the door into the showroom and the hum of the fridge in the corner, next to the door which led down to the shop's combined basement/storeroom/storm shelter.

She had just tucked into her pasta pomodoro, left over from the night before and warmed up in the microwave next to the fridge, when her cell buzzed in her pocket. Groaning, Tenten set down her fork and pulled it out, wondering who would _dare_ bother her during her few moments of sweet, sweet sanctuary from the hustle just on the other side of the door. Everyone she'd talked to the past couple of days knew the shop had been busy, so she hadn't expected anyone, except maybe Neji, to call her.

A quick glance at the caller ID made her sigh and answer the phone. "Hi, Hanabi." Tenten knew it was rude, but she still took a bite of her lunch anyway and chewed as quietly as possible. She didn't have that long to eat, and she wanted to enjoy her pasta warm, not cold or room-temp.

"Hey, Tenten. Are you busy?"

Though tempted to voice a polite lie, Tenten swallowed back the urge and told the truth. "It's been ridiculously busy at the shop, but I'm on my lunch break now and _finally_ sitting down. What do you need? Is something wrong?" She sneaked in a sip of peach tea while waiting for the younger woman's response.

"I-I hate to ask this, but, well, you see, Hinata's leaving for New York on Saturday. Of course you know that, sorry. But my point is, I don't really want to stay at the condo by myself. And Father - well, let's just say I don't want to go back there even if he would let me in the door." Hanabi sounded anxious, and a bit like she might be about to hyperventilate. "So I was wondering if, maybe, you wouldn't mind if I-"

Tenten took pity on the poor girl and interrupted. "You can come and stay with me and Neji. That's fine."

Hanabi's sigh of relief blasted through the speaker, making Tenten hold the phone away from her ear for a few moments to keep from going deaf. "Thanks, Tenten. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. We just got the guest room finished this past weekend, and this way, you'll be on hand to help me clean the house before the red-carpet party." At Hanabi's playful groan, Tenten laughed. "Don't worry, I'm more interested in cooking that day than cleaning. Our house is a home, not a showplace."

"Gotcha." Hanabi was quiet for a moment, then added, "You know, that's a lot of the reason why I want to come stay with you and Neji. I feel a lot more at home there, where I've only been a couple times, than with my father, where I spent the first eighteen years of my life."

Tenten could believe it. She'd only been to the pretentious Hyuuga manor a handful of times, and while she'd had many thoughts about the place, _home_ had never been one of them. It was far too cold and clinical for that. She'd made every effort to make her and Neji's home the exact opposite of her husband's childhood residence. "We'll love having you. We'll make a party out of it!" After admittedly spending more time with Hinata than Hanabi, she discovered she liked the idea of getting to know the younger of her cousins better.

Tucking the phone between her chin and shoulder, she made sure it was anchored well before reaching for her drink. "Have you talked to Neji yet?"

"No, not yet. I know he can't answer the phone at work, and I have no idea when he gets breaks." Hanabi hesitated, then added, "Not that, ah, I wanted to interrupt you at work. But I figured it'd be easier to get hold of you."

"Wise choice. Neji doesn't even know when he's going to get breaks, and when he does, they're never really that long. Depends on how busy the ER is on any given day." Tenten picked at the remnants of her pasta, wishing it hadn't gone cold. "I am glad you called, though." And she really was, to her surprise.

"Thanks," Hanabi replied, a smile in her voice. "I'll let you go finish your lunch now. Sorry for interrupting."

"No problem. We'll talk more later, work out the details, okay?" Tenten replaced the lid on her food and decided she really wasn't all that hungry, anyway.

After saying goodbye, they hung up. Tenten replaced what was left of her lunch and tea in the fridge, then headed back out to the front of the store, already planning how to break the news to Neji that they were about to have their first houseguest.

She could hardly wait.

* * *

Tenten got home to a fragrant, thanks to the roast in the slow cooker, but empty house a little before five-thirty, having stopped at the store on her way home. She checked her phone to see if Neji had left her a message: nothing.

"O-okay," she spoke to fill the silence. An unanticipated sense of disappointment rippled through her, but she shook it off. It was all part of being a doctor's wife. "I guess I'd better go turn the heat down to the warm setting so dinner won't overcook."

Neji still wasn't home by the time Tenten took a shower and dressed in lounge wear. She curled up on the couch and played with her phone, wondering if she should call or text her husband. He wasn't often late, but the few times he had been, it had been an extraordinarily busy day at the ER and he stayed because the ward was short staffed - as they often were. Sometimes during their courtship, he'd been so busy, he didn't even have time to text her to let her know what was going on.

She chose to believe that was the situation now. Forcing herself to pick up a book, she settled in to read and wait. If he still wasn't home by seven, _then_ she'd text him to see what was going on. To her relief, though, a little over forty-five minutes later the garage door went up, and she heard Neji's car pull in. Tenten popped up off the couch and went to open the connecting door into the house, but Neji came in before she could make it that far.

He looked exhausted: face pale, dark circles under his dull eyes, hair straggling out of the tie he used to hold it back for work. When he saw her standing there, he smiled, but it was obviously forced. "Hey." He stepped forward and kissed her cheek, the very lightest of pecks.

"Hi." Tenten frowned when her husband pulled away before she could return the gesture of affection. "I've been holding dinner, and can have it on the table in just a few minutes."

Neji shook his head slowly. "It smells good, but I'm not hungry. There was a huge accident on the interstate, and the ER was slammed. Sorry I didn't call. I'm just going to take a shower and go to bed." Without another word, he disappeared up the stairs.

Tenten followed him to the foot of the staircase and stared up after him, a cold knot of dread forming around her heart. For him to be so abrupt with her wasn't a good sign. And he hadn't even said goodnight, let alone _I love you_ , like he always did.

 _Of coure he's tired,_ she told herself as she turned away from the stairs and went to turn off the roast and veggies, trying to convince herself that was all it was. _The ER was busy, and Neji's one of their best doctors. He's just exhausted._

She picked sparsely at her dinner alone, then fixed a plate and slipped it into the fridge on the chance Neji woke up hungry later. After putting the remaining leftovers alongside Neji's plate, she wandered into the family room and wondered what to do next.

Though used to Neji going to bed early, especially on the nights before he had to be at the ER for the early shift, this night felt so different, because his behavior had been so different. Though she supposed some of it could be excused by his obvious exhaustion, she _knew_ there was another reason for it - one she didn't want to think about.

So after trying and failing to read, watch TV, or even concentrate on her e-mail, Tenten gave up and went upstairs to bed. For a few seconds she stood in the doorway, debating whether or not to say anything, but Neji's deep, even breathing made it clear he was already asleep, and she didn't have the heart to wake him.

After changing into her pajamas in the bathroom and brushing her teeth, Tenten slipped into bed. When Neji didn't even stir at the movement of the mattress, she sighed and rolled over so her back was to him, closing her eyes despite the fact she knew it would be a long while before she would fall asleep.

 _If Neji needs me in the night,_ she told herself repeatedly, _I'm right here, and he'll reach out to me._

But when she woke an indeterminate time later to an empty bed, Tenten realized the situation was much, much worse than she'd thought.

Scrambling out of bed, she nearly choked at the glowing green numerals on her clock showing it was a little after four-thirty in the morning, an hour and a half before Neji got up to get ready for work. Since he usually slept like the dead on a good night, the fact he was up so early did not bode well.

Hurrying down the stairs, Tenten searched the kitchen, living room, and den-turned-office for her husband, but found him in none of the rooms. She hurried back to the living room, relieved when she saw his car keys still hanging on one of the hooks by the door. But he wasn't in the house...

Her heart hammering in her chest, Tenten hurried through the house, ready to go back upstairs and get her phone so she could call him - and, if he didn't answer, start calling others to help her search - when she caught a glimpse of movement outside the sliding glass doors leading onto the deck. Relief warred with anxiety when she saw Neji sitting in one of the deck chairs, his face upturned to the starry sky. Occasionally his right hand would clench into a fist, then relax: the movement which had caught Tenten's attention.

Tenten eased over to the doors and slid one open, the humid night air smacking her in the face as she left the air-conditioned comfort of the house. "Neji?" she whispered, moving to stand next to him.

For a moment he didn't respond, continuing to stare up at the sky with a frighteningly blank look in his pale eyes. Then he shuddered once, so hard his chair rattled, before he blinked up at her. "Tenten," he whispered.

Now she was closer, she saw the tear tracks on his face, and realized he hadn't been asleep when she'd gone to bed. He'd only pretended so she'd leave him alone. "Oh, Neji," she breathed. Though she'd pushed the idea away before, pretended such a problem couldn't exist, she knew with absolute certainty the cause of her husband's pain.

Rocking forward in his seat, Neji scrubbed his hands down his face and shook his head. "I _failed_ ," he said from between his teeth. His voice grated, coming out in nearly a growl, as if he forced the words from his throat by sheer force of will. "I _failed_ today, Tenten. It was so stupid." And then, softer, " _I_ was so stupid."

Tenten went to her knees in front of Neji, grasping his wrists tightly though she didn't try to force his hands away from his face. "What happened?"

For a long few moments, she feared he wasn't going to answer her. But then he let out a sigh worthy of a man three times his age and finally replied. "The wreck on the interstate I told you about - the victims came in close to the end of my shift, so I volunteered to stay until we had everyone stable. But-" He let out a harsh, shaky breath, half a sob, and shook his head.

Her heart and gut twisted at the same time. _Oh, Neji, my love._

"I got the first patient. He was just a _kid_ , Ten. Eleven, maybe twelve. He had on a baseball uniform, like they were on the way home from a game, and-" Another sob, quickly muffled, cleaved off the rest of his sentence as cleanly as a knife.

 _A child._ Tenten felt tears spill down her face, drip off her chin onto the deck beneath her. _Why did it have to be a child?_ Her mind skipped back to the very first patient Neji had lost, a young husband and father who'd been brought in with an acute case of bacterial meningitis: He'd died within hours. The thought of her husband losing any of his patients was bad enough. But the knowledge that his first loss at Konoha General had been a child, an athlete with friends, teammates, a family who loved and were proud of him, with his whole life ahead of him...

"I am a doctor to _save_ lives, Tenten, not _take_ them because I didn't do enough." Neji spoke the words with such fear and passion it sent a chill down her spine, shivering through her with an intensity that frightened her.

"You did _not_ take that boy's life!" The words were out of Tenten's mouth before she even thought about them; but even had she considered them before giving them voice, she wouldn't have changed them. "I am sorry it happened - for him, for his family, and most of all for you - but Neji, my love, the ultimate power of life and death does not lie with you. I know for sure you did _everything_ you could have possibly done to help that child, but sometimes, as terrible as the truth of it is, _everything_ is not enough. You are only human, Neji, and as good a doctor as you are, you _cannot_ save everyone. So be sad, yes, mourn him, learn from this situation. But please, _please_ , don't blame yourself, and don't let this turn you away from what you are so clearly meant to do."

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Tenten still had fragmented nightmares, starting not long after reaching the orphanage where she'd spent the majority of her childhood. Screeching metal, shattering glass, bright lights and sirens and screams: the disjointed images still haunted her, all from the car accident which had killed her parents when she was but the tender age of three. She never sought out the images, tried to piece them together or find more, since she was perversely grateful her young memory had wiped out most of that terrible night. But as she'd grown older, there had been a time when she blamed everyone - the ER doctors, the semi driver who'd hit their car, her parents themselves, and even herself - for her parents' deaths.

It had taken years and many hard-won lessons for her to move past it all and stop blaming the world for what had happened. Here she was, after all, married to an ER doctor. Perhaps it had all worked out this way for a reason, so she could have the right words to help Neji this night.

"I have the rest of the week off," Neji said at last, drawing Tenten out of her thoughts. "There will be a review, of course, but it's just a formality."

Tenten was glad Neji had the rest of the week off, so he could take some time to heal. It wouldn't be fast, by any means, but the last thing he needed right now was to go back into that emergency room and face the nightmares she could see lurking behind his hollow eyes. "I'll take the rest of the week off, too," she said. Sliding her hands up and around so she grasped his, she smiled through her tears up into his face and said, "We'll work through this, Neji. Together."

Neji looked down at her blankly for a little while, barely blinking, and she could see his struggle. How he yearned to believe her, while at the same time being afraid to. "Yes," he finally agreed, slowly but with a fragile assurance. "Together."

It would not be easy, not for either of them. But Tenten knew Neji would come out of this terrible situation stronger.

Somehow, they both would.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ I admire doctors so much for their dedication and the difficulties they go through with their jobs - especially ER physicians. I'd pretty much known from when I first came up with the idea of this story this was going to happen, but I have to admit, it was kind of hard to write when I got to it. But I promise the tone of the story will cheer up again. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you agian for next week's update!


	8. Focus

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _SilentMidnight2_ , _Umi_ , and _Ami1010_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Notes:** I love writing Neji and Tenten again. I've missed them _so much_. Writing _Solo Tu_ is kind of making me fall in love with them all over again, and it makes me so happy that you all are along for the journey. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

 ***~Chapter VIII~***

 _~Focus~_

* * *

After two days off from the hospital, Neji felt like he was going to go crazy. Tenten had done the best she could, but the same itch under his skin which led him to his job in the first place urged him to get back to it. So on Friday afternoon, Neji called the hospital and spent almost an hour on the phone arranging to get back to work on Saturday. Though his direct supervisor seemed hesitant at first, he eventually agreed that getting back to work was the best thing, especially if Neji himself felt that way.

"I don't want you to feel pressured into coming back too soon," Dr. Matsuyo said cautiously. "I know this hit you hard. If you feel you need more time off, you can have it."

"No thank you, sir," Neji replied quietly but confidently. "If nothing else, this break has proven being in the ER is where I need to be. I appreciate the offer, but I am a doctor. This is what I'm _meant_ to do."

When he rejoined Tenten in the sitting room after hanging up with Dr. Matsuyo, Neji nodded once in response to her questioning look. "I'll report for duty at seven in the morning, like usual."

Tenten reached for his hand as soon as he sat down on the couch next to her. "I'm proud of you, you know?" She smiled at him, her eyes swirling with warmth, like a cup of hot coffee with rich cream on a cold winter's day.

Neji smoothed his thumb over her knuckles, feeling somewhat guilty at her praise. "You took the rest of the week off, including tomorrow. Now I'm going back to work, and you'll be in the lurch."

Shifting so she could drape her long legs over his lap, she threaded her fingers through his and dropped their hands in her lap. "To be honest, I've been enjoying the break. The shop's been _so_ busy ever since the festival, I was beginning to think I was going to go nuts. Sai got back to town today, so the shop will be covered tomorrow. Besides, I've been thinking about going for a girl's day out with Hinata and Hanabi, and tomorrow will work really well."

"Shopping, hmm?" Neji arched one brow at her, knowing how she usually felt about such excursions.

His wife shrugged innocently. "Yeah, I know, I hate shopping. But Hinata's going to want to dress to impress in New York, and while she always dresses nicely, she never really _treats_ herself. I think this trip is a good excuse for that. And you _know_ Hanabi never turns down a chance to hit the shops. If everything works out, I'm going to try to work in lunch and a movie, too."

Sometimes Neji wondered how in the world Tenten did it. Although she wasn't a social butterfly like Hanabi, she generally liked people and hardly met a stranger. Spending hours in a packed mall on a Saturday with Hinata - who was sweet but sometimes rather indecisive; and Hanabi - who was rarely indecisive but often trying on a good day - wasn't exactly his idea of a fun, relaxing day, but Tenten looked excited. "Have fun," he settled on saying. He wasn't sure whether to wish her luck or not, so decided to keep that sentiment to himself unless she seemed to require it.

Tenten smiled. "We will, I promise." Her smile faded, and she nervously played with his fingers. "Speaking of the New York trip, there's - ah - something I've been meaning to talk to you about..." She arched her eyebrows apologetically.

Neji felt his tenuously good mood vanish. "What?" he asked, trying to keep his tone even.

"Well, you see, Hanabi called on Wednesday. She doesn't want stay at the condo by herself, and apparently Hiashi won't let her come home, so..." Tenten bit her lower lip, eyes wary. "I agreed she could stay here."

Letting out his breath on a long sigh, Neji decided that news was a _lot_ better than what had originally come to mind. "That's fine. Hanabi has done a lot of growing up since she moved in with Hinata, so I have to admit I'm not as opposed to the idea as I would have been otherwise."

Smiling, Tenten nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking. And this way, she's already here for the red-carpet premiere. I told her she can help me clean house in return for the room and board."

Stretching out his legs in front of him, Neji crossed them at the ankles and dropped his free hand on Tenten's legs, nudging at her silver anklet with his pinkie. "You've already got it all worked out. Who knows? Maybe Hanabi being here will be fun." It was certain to be interesting, anyway. He'd always been closer to Hinata than Hanabi growing up, finding his shy, gentle cousin easier to get along with than the outgoing, independent, sometimes-rebellious one. But the difference in the eighteen-year-old was obvious, and Neji hoped the change plus their proximity would make it easier for them to connect now.

"I sense a lot of movie marathons in the future." Craning around, Tenten picked up the glass sitting on the table and held it out to him, its half-gone contents making the glass sweat. "Lemonade?"

Neji arched an eyebrow. "Is it spiked?" Neither he nor Tenten often indulged in alcohol, though sometimes they both enjoyed a glass of wine before bed on nights when they didn't have to work the next day. Sometimes Tenten would mix a little in with her lemonade.

"With strawberries, yes. Nothing alcoholic." Tenten wiggled the glass a little under his nose, making the half-melted ice cubes rattle.

Wrinkling his nose, Neji leaned away slightly. "No thank you." Though he didn't mind sweets every now and then, he preferred his lemonade straight and slightly sour.

With a smooth shrug, Tenten lifted her glass to her lips and took another drink. Slipping his hand around the flat of Tenten's foot, he massaged her arch as they sat in companionable silence for several minutes. He didn't even realize his face had settled into a frown until his wife leaned forward to nudge his shoulder with hers. Neji glanced over to see her grinning at him. "What?" he asked, arching one eyebrow at her.

"This really does bug you, doesn't it? Hinata going to New York?"

"It definitely did at first," he admitted. "The thought of my little sister going so far away, and with someone like Uchiha Sasuke- Well, initially, I did see red. But now, after spending some time with him, and having had time to think about it, I don't see it as being a _terrible_ thing. I mean, I'm glad Hinata stood up to Uncle and is living her life the way she wants to, instead of the way _he_ wants her to. I've encouraged her to do so for years, and now that she is..." He trailed off.

"You're glad she is, just maybe not glad of the way she's going about it?" Tenten prompted.

Neji shrugged. "In a way, I suppose. But regardless, I _am_ very proud of her. How can I be mad at her for taking my own advice and, in a way, following my own example?"

Tenten arched her eyebrows at him. "We've never been to New York. As a matter of fact, we've never really been anywhere _exotic_ except for our honeymoon."

"Chicago wasn't exotic?" Four days of shopping, museums, and even a concert had been a fun trip they'd taken together to celebrate his finally getting his degree and graduating med school.

"Chicago at Christmastime was beautiful," Tenten conceded. Leaning forward a little more, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and added, "But as long as I'm with you, my love, anything we do and anywhere we go is perfect."

And Neji found absolutely no argument with that, since he felt the same way about Tenten.

* * *

The next morning, Tenten got up with him, fixed breakfast, then kissed him before he left. "Have a good day at work," she said with a bright smile.

"Thanks, Tenten. Have a fun day with Hinata and Hanabi."

The whole way to the hospital, Neji focused on breathing evenly, staying calm even though he could feel panic brushing along the edges of his consciousness. But he'd fought long and hard for the steady nerves he prided himself on, the professionalism which made him so efficient in the emergency room.

Walking through the automatic doors into work usually felt a bit like coming home, but Neji couldn't quite push his way past the tightness in his chest. Which was _ridiculous_ , since he'd had plenty of time to think about what had happened, and the board had been correct in their ruling that the boy couldn't have been saved; malpractice didn't enter into it. But the part of him which still wasn't entirely over his uncle's years of telling him he wasn't good enough - strong enough - determined enough - fed on the little seed of fear.

Neji's co-workers greeted him with a degree of normalcy he hadn't been expecting. They treated him as if nothing had happened, and though it might seem callous to some, it was exactly what he needed to relax and slip into his usual routine.

The ER stayed relatively quiet for about an hour. The few cases which came in were minor, and could be handled by one of the nurses or assistants.

And then the girl was brought in.

Neji stared at the computer screen in front of him, his mind remaining clinical as he scanned its contents. Eleven-year-old-female, Asian, in good health other than the fact she'd fallen off her trampoline and ripped open a seven-inch-long gash in her arm. Compared to what could have come in - head trauma, or a compound fracture - this was minor.

He should be grateful. And he was, in a way. But this was his first case since he lost the boy, and the first was always the hardest. Fixing a professional smile on his face, Neji slipped around the curtain into the cubicle where the girl and her mother waited. "Hello," he greeted them, "I'm Dr. Hyuuga. What have we here?"

The mother looked to be about Neji's age, her short brown hair tucked behind her ears, large dark eyes filled with concern. "She fell off her trampoline," she told Neji.

"My arm is bleeding," the girl said matter-of-factly. She lifted the appendage in question slightly off her lap, while at the same time gripping a bloodied towel in place with her free hand. "It hurts a bit. It'll need stitches, won't it?"

It was pretty much a given, but Neji was impressed by the girl's calm demeanor, despite the tear tracks visible on her cheeks. "Maybe," he admitted. Pulling up a rolling stool, he adjusted it and then settled in. "May I please see your arm, Miss...?" he trailed off.

She smiled down at him, her blue eyes bright. "Kurosaki," she replied. "Kurosaki Riko." As she let go of the towel so Neji could remove it, she tilted her head toward her mother. "That's my mom, Teru. And Dad'll be here as soon as he can get here from Kansas City. He's on a business trip."

Neji noticed how the girl very carefully kept her gaze on his face and away from her injured arm. _So she doesn't mind pain - but blood freaks her out. I can work with this._ Keeping a smile on his face, Neji carefully worked the towel free and cleaned the wound, relieved to see the cut wasn't jagged or to the bone. It would be easy to put in the stitches. "What does your father do for a living, hmm?"

Riko smiled at him. "He works for a big computer company. He writes programs, does software repairs, stuff like that."

"And what about you, Miss Riko?" Neji spoke quickly, briefly, to the nurse assisting him, sending her to get something to numb Riko's arm and the equipment he'd need for the stitches. "What do you like to do?"

"Jump on the trampoline," Riko said immediately. Then she hesitated and curled her nose a little. "Well, I did. I think I should probably hold off on that a few days. But I also love to read. There's a _big_ tree in my backyard. Dad built me a treehouse, and I like to go up there and read my books."

The nurse returned, and Neji thanked her. As he prepared the syringe, he queried, "What's your favorite kind of books? I like mysteries." He'd discovered the Hardy Boys at the library when he was Riko's age, and after that he was hooked. Now his tastes ran more towards Agatha Christie, Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle, and Wilkie Collins.

Riko's eyes brightened, despite her obvious pain. "I _love_ mysteries!" She gave a slight bounce on the gurney, then winced and held still again. "I read a lot of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and my favorite, Trixie Belden."

"I used to love Hardy Boys, and my wife, Tenten, read Trixie Belden when she was about your age." Neither of them read as much as they used to when they were younger, but their bookshelves at home were still filled. "When you get a little older, I recommend Agatha Christie - she's my favorite. Her Hercule Poirot mysteries always kept me guessing." He worked quickly, efficiently, counting on his conversation to keep his young patient occupied.

"Oh, Mom likes the movies based on those!" Riko looked at her mother, who shrugged and nodded.

"They've been done and redone so many times over the years, but the good stories just seem to endure." Teru smiled at him and shared a wink, making it clear she knew exactly what he was doing for her daughter, and appreciated it.

The conversation continued for a few more minutes, wherein they discussed various storylines and which books were their absolute, undisputed favorites.

At last, Neji finished winding a bandage around Riko's arm and slid his stool back. "There you go, young lady. You're all done and ready to go home as soon as the discharge papers come through the system."

Riko blinked and looked down at her arm, neatly wrapped in white, gauzy fabric. "Wow," she said. "That was fast!"

"Time flies when you're discussing something fun." Neji helped the girl off the bed and turned her over into her mother's loving care. He glanced at Riko's mother to include her in the following conversation. "I recommend ice to keep the swelling down - twenty minutes on, off for an hour, and then repeat steadily for the next twenty-four hours or so. After that, you can just ice it when needed. For pain, I've written a prescription to get through the next few days. After that some children's Tylenol or ibuprofen would be fine. Other than that, just be careful for the next few days - keep the wound clean and dry, change the bandage every day, and either come back here or make an appointment with your primary care doctor to get those stitches out in about a week. Sound good to you?"

Nodding, Riko grinned up at him. "Yes. Thank you, Dr. Hyuuga. You're the best." She hugged him quickly with her good arm, and then she and her mother were gone.

Neji blinked after the duo, feeling everything inside him soften. _If that wasn't_ just _what I needed..._

Kyoko, his nurse, smiled at him. "She's right, you know. You've got a way with patients of all ages. You're a great doctor, and this hospital is much better for having you." Then she, too, slipped away.

He closed his eyes and let out a breath, once again reassured that he was exactly where he needed to be, doing exactly what he needed to do.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ Fun fact: the majority of the beginning scene of this chapter (except for the last two paragraphs or so) was written while I was sitting at a drive-in theater waiting for _Jurassic World_ to start. I love writing in unique and fun places, and that seemed to fit the bill! And I adore that second scene. It was such a joy to write, especially Neji interacting with Riko. Too bad she's only a cameo character, she was fun! This is a little random, but writing _Solo Tu_ is making me fall in love with NejiTen all over again, and I _love_ writing it and sharing it with all of you. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!


	9. Rain

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _rao hyuga 18_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , and _Yukiko x Yuli_ for all your lovely reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Writing the whole family around the table together was of my favorite parts thus far - and this chapter includes the very first image that came to mind which sparked the idea for the entire story! I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter IX~***

 _~Rain~_

* * *

Despite her general dislike of shopping, Tenten was pleased with the results of her trip with Hinata and Hanabi. The elder of the sisters came away with several cute new outfits to wear in New York, and the younger purchased some shoes and a few skirts.

Tenten had (only semi-reluctantly) allowed herself to be talked into buying a beautiful white and red Chinese style top, which she had definitely fallen in love with. It was long-sleeved, so she'd have to wait until closer to fall and winter to wear it, but she just couldn't resist.

When the trio finally emerged from the local movie theater at the end of their excursion, it was to oppressively high humidity and a growing mass of dark clouds on the horizon. "Looks like a storm's coming," Hanabi commented on their way back to Tenten's car.

Unlocking the door with her remote, Tenten rounded the car and opened her door as the sisters slid into her car. "I know they were talking on the news this morning like there was a chance." She clicked her seatbelt, then hissed as she touched the steering wheel. The sun had been shining enough to make it uncomfortably hot while they'd been in the theater. "There's a possibility of severe, but Anko said the probability for tornadoes is relatively low."

"Good." Hinata tucked her purse alongside her feet, then adjusted the vents on her side so the cool air would hit her across the face and shoulders. Turning her head from side to side with a blissful expression on her face, she added, "I had fun today. Thanks, Tenten, Hanabi."

"You're welcome." Tenten backed out of the parking place, waving to the driver of the car who waited to take her spot. "I was wondering: would you two like to stay for dinner when we get back to the house? Neji'll be home from work, and it'll be fun to eat together again, just the four of us, before you go to New York, Hinata. Unless you already have plans...?"

Hinata shook her head. "Sasuke's trying to get as much of his book written as possible before we leave, so I'm free. Hanabi?"

The teen, having jokingly resigned herself to the back seat, leaned forward slightly. "That's fine. Konohamaru has to work tonight, unfortunately, so we didn't have any plans."

"Great!" Since the theater was only a few minutes away from her house - _everything_ in Konoha was a few minutes away from everywhere else, the benefit of living in a small town - she decided not to call Neji, just to surprise him. She only hoped his first day back to work had been a rousing success. "I've been having so much fun with you guys, I'm just not ready for the day to end yet." Plus, her and Neji's house had a basement. She had a feeling Hinata would feel more comfortable staying there, at least until the worst of the storms were past. To get to the basement in her and Hanabi's building, one had to go outside first - a less than ideal situation.

Neji's sleek black VW was already in the driveway by the time Tenten pulled her little red bug alongside it. She'd always found it funny to see their cars parked side-by-side: two cars, made by the same company, which looked so completely different from each other.

Tenten helped the sisters carry their purchases to Hinata's Old Sensible, which she'd parked at the curb just behind the mailbox. Then she got her own bag, locked her car doors, and led the way into the house. "Neji, we're here!" she called as she set her purse and keys on the credenza in the entry.

There was no answer, so after sliding her shoes off, she popped upstairs. On the way back down, she reported, "He's in the shower. Will you help me start dinner? We'll give him a _real_ surprise when he comes down."

By the time Neji came downstairs, the chicken was ready to go on the grill, Tenten was busy stirring quartered red potatoes in a mix of salt, pepper, and olive oil, and Hanabi and Hinata were working on assembling a salad.

"Looks like I missed some excitement." Neji hugged his cousins before dropping a quick kiss on Tenten's lips as he reached for the chicken. "Not ready for your girls' day to end, hmm?"

Behind him, Hanabi laughed. "Not really, but don't worry, we'll let you stay. 'Cause we're nice like that."

Tenten snickered at the expression on Neji's face. "We won't get too girly on you, promise." Standing on tiptoe, she pressed a kiss to his cheek before nudging him in the direction of the door. "Now if you'll go get that chicken on the grill, I'll bring these potatoes out to you in a bit."

Hinata continued tearing lettuce as Neji left the kitchen. "Those clouds look like they're really moving in fast," she commented, peering through the window over the sink. "Is it okay if we turn on the TV?"

"Sure." Tenten set down her spoon long enough to turn on the small television set in the kitchen, there for just such a situation. It was already tuned to the local news channel, where a crawl across the bottom of the screen warned of a severe thunderstorm watch for the area. "Severe thunderstorm watch till nine," Tenten told her cousins-in-law.

Hanabi glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Only five-thirty now. That's not too bad."

The first rumble of thunder sounded as Tenten stepped onto the deck to give Neji the potatoes to add to the grill. "Hope that holds off till everything cooks, or we'll be finishing up in the microwave." She shaded her eyes, staring at the dark clouds coming ever-closer. Occasionally, a flicker within hinted at lightning, and the smell of rain washed across her on the wind that ruffled her hair.

"Just doesn't taste the same, does it?" Neji took the bowl and tongs, then opened the lid of the grill. Fragrant smoke drifted in Tenten's direction as he settled the potatoes on the grill, one by one, making a sort of frame around the chicken. "I think we'll be fine. It's still a good distance away, and we've just got a little bit longer on the chicken. It won't take any time at all for these potatoes to cook."

"Good. Thanks, Neji." Tenten went back inside, wishing they could eat outside on the deck. But besides the oncoming storm, the wind had really picked up, which would make anchoring things on the table difficult at best.

As she entered the kitchen, she found Hinata watching the crawl on the TV while Hanabi went about getting plates, silverware, and glasses for everyone. "What's going on?" Tenten asked, sending a grateful smile Hanabi's direction while she went to stand next to Hinata.

Pulling her thumb knuckle away from her mouth, where she'd been nibbling on it, Hinata answered without pulling her gaze away from the screen. "Severe thunderstorm warning one county over, headed this way. There's a pretty big hail core in that storm, and the wind is ferocious. Lots of cloud-to-ground lightning, too. How much longer on the food?" At last she looked away from the TV, her eyes flickering anxiously toward the doorway.

Tenten squeezed Hinata's shoulder comfortingly. "Only a few more minutes. The chicken is almost done, and the potatoes don't take any time at all to fix. Neji'll bring the food inside in no time. And, if need be, we'll finish up cooking it in the microwave."

Hanabi called from the dining room, "Should I turn on the TV out here?"

"Yes, please!" Ordinarily she'd think having it on with guests rude, but she knew it would comfort Hinata if she could keep an eye on the weather reports. The poor woman had plenty of reasons to be nervous about storms, even if there was a low threat of tornadic activity. "Thanks, Hanabi."

Leaving Hinata next to the small kitchen television, Tenten put ice into glasses, then passed them across the counter to Hanabi. Then she pulled out carafes of tea and lemonade to add to the table while her younger cousin-in-law passed out the glasses.

Neji came back into the house just as the first few raindrops started hitting the roof. "That was close," he said with a laugh. With one hand he set down the bowl of potatoes; with the other, the plate of chicken. "Got everything cooked to the right temp at the perfect time."

The four of them settled around the table, with Hinata given the best view of the TV and its weather updates, and started passing around dishes. Tenten subtly inhaled the unique fragrance of grilled meat, wishing they could grill every day. Outside, the branches on the tree in the front yard rattled around in the wind, and rain began pouring from the sky as thunder rumbled its way closer.

But cozy and dry inside, Tenten smiled around at her family, glad she'd suggested the women stay for dinner. Growing up as an orphan, she'd always promised herself when she married into a family and started one of her own, she would do her best, and even make extra efforts, to have family dinners as often as possible.

Granted, the _whole_ family wasn't present, but Tenten didn't think the Hyuuga cousins minded Hiashi's absence. To be honest, she didn't either. The few meals she'd eaten in his presence had been awkward, stiff, formal, and left her feeling exhausted at the end. Whereas the informal, friendly atmosphere of the family meal going on at the table now was just what Tenten had always dreamed of having. She settled in to enjoy it.

* * *

After they ate, the group retired to the sitting room with homemade ice cream sundaes to watch the storm. With rain lashing the windows, lightning flashing every few seconds, the wind blowing the trees and flowers helter-skelter, and thunder booming overhead, it was quite the show.

Even Hinata eventually relaxed and watched the storm more than the weather updates. Anko cut into programming with new warnings, but repeated that nothing was showing tornadic activity.

Finally, around eight-thirty, the storm began to move on. With their food long-consumed, dishes washed, dried, and put away, and conversation fading into comfortable silence, Hinata and Hanabi finally rose and announced their intentions to go home.

Tenten and Neji walked their guests to the front door. "It was great to have you two over," the former said, hugging both women. "We're going to have to do this again sometime after you get back from New York, Hinata."

"That sounds great." Hinata returned the hug, then switched places with Hanabi so she could hug her cousin. "I'll talk to you all again before I leave - getting close to time now!" She grinned with obvious excitement, and Tenten again thought about how nice it was to see Hinata looking forward to a trip, instead of dreading it like the ones she used to take with her father.

With one last wave and call of, "Goodbye!" the sisters sprinted for Hinata's car and quickly slid into the seats. Neji and Tenten stood under the cover of the front porch, arms around each other's waists, until Old Sensible's taillights disappeared around the corner at the end of the block.

Neji half-turned to go back inside, but Tenten grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the steps. "What-?" he asked, eyebrows arching in surprise.

Unheeding of the fact they were both barefoot, she led the way out onto the front lawn into the lessening downpour and slipped her arms around him. "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever done," she told him, "but I just have the craziest urge to dance in the rain with you..." Swaying against him, she began humming, "In the Mood."

Neji initially resisted slightly, with a quick glance around at the neighboring houses. "You aren't going to give up on this, are you?" he murmured, his lips quirking as he started to sway in time with her. His baritone joined her alto as they slipped smoothly into a swing dance, oblivious to the raindrops still falling all around and on them, their feet squishing though the wet grass.

Her insides melted. Neji had never been big on PDAs, but here he was, dancing with her around their front lawn with the rain running through their hair and starting to make their clothing cling to their bodies, in full view of the neighbors' houses. All anyone had to do was look out their window to see them, but it was obvious this once it didn't matter to him. Perhaps losing his patient the other day had driven home the fact life could be so short, and was so infinitely precious. Moments like these were rare, and beautiful, and made to be treasured. So she loved her husband and their dance with all her heart.

Just as she knew he was doing with and for her.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ Okay, I cheated. I have two dancing scenes in this story. But the one in this chapter was the very, very first image which came to mind for this fic, Neji and Tenten dancing in the rain with such abandon, it was so clear they were wrapped up in each other and didn't care who saw them. I've been really looking forward to sharing it with all of you! On another note, everyone in my family is sick except for me, so just in case I catch everyone else's cold and can't update next week, I apologize in advance, and I'll update as soon as I can afterwards. But I plan to still be well and able to update next Friday. Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see you all again for (hopefully) next week's update!


	10. Party

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _naruto1398_ , _Ami1010_ , and _rao hyuga 18_ for all your lovely reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists.

 **Author's Note:** I am _so_ sorry for my unplanned hiatus! The Bug that knocked out the rest of my family insidiously crept up on me, too, and last update day I was a total mess. But after a round of antibiotics, plus lots of rest and TLC (and doggie love - seriously, my dog was glued to me the whole time I was sick), I am quite happy to report I'm feeling loads better! Hopefully there will be no more breaks in updating until the end of _Solo Tu_. Thank you all so much for your patience, I'm sorry again for the wait, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

 ***~Chapter X~***

 _~Party~_

* * *

The Thursday of Sasuke's book-to-movie premiere rushed up on Tenten so fast, she could hardly believe it had arrived. Neji traded with another doctor to make sure he had the day off and could enjoy it, which meant he'd be working the night shift on Friday, but she didn't mind. It would be exciting to see Hinata all dolled up and walking the red carpet on Sasuke's arm.

Hanabi had been a surprisingly great houseguest. She often helped Tenten fix dinner; in fact, she usually had it halfway ready by the time Tenten and Neji got home from work. It seemed her time rooming with Hinata had mellowed her a bit, and taught her more responsibility than her eighteen years under Hyuuga Hiashi's roof ever had.

Hinata had already texted them various pictures of her time in New York. Obviously she and Sasuke had been hitting a lot of the highlights, including Central Park. The green grass, blue water, and peaceful tranquility of the park in the center of one of the busiest cities in the world made Tenten want to visit it herself sometime. Maybe for her and Neji's anniversary (any one, really, but preferably one sooner rather than later).

Konohamaru arrived punctually for dinner. Tenten felt pleased at how well it went, since Neji and Hanabi's boyfriend were actually conversing. They didn't have too much in common, but she and Hanabi both appreciated the fact they were making a genuine effort. It made things go smoothly, and laughter abounded since Konohamaru and Hanabi both had wicked senses of humor - and had pulled many pranks during their schooldays.

Just after dinner, Hinata texted her sister and cousin-in-law with a picture of her in her red-carpet dress.

"Wow," Hanabi said, eyebrows raised. "She hardly looks like herself."

"She looks like she could be starring in the movie herself," Tenten agreed. "She's going to be a knockout."

"I think every girl in the world is going to be jealous of her." Hanabi giggled, then sobered. "Seriously, though, she was afraid of standing out too much. I think she _is_ going to stand out, but in a good way."

"I think so, too." Tenten tucked her phone back into her pocket and returned to loading the dishwasher. "She told me she would just be happy if she could blend in with the rest of the glitz and glamour, but for some reason, I don't think she's going to do that, and that is a very good thing in this case."

"Sasuke's going to be drooling all over that red carpet, I guarantee it." Hanabi checked a new text that came in, then snickered. "Those are red spinel Hinata's wearing. I thought they were rubies - and apparently Sasuke did too. Hina said Jelly Woods, the woman in charge of the 'glitz,' nearly had a conniption fit."

Tenten laughed as she pushed the now-full top rack back into the dishwasher. "I think I'd like to meet this woman." Dumping a handful of silverware into the rack on the door, she checked the remaining dishes on the counter to make sure she hadn't missed any before going to the sink to rinse her fingers. "I can hardly wait to see the whole effect on TV. How many hours to go?"

"Just a couple now." Hanabi nudged Tenten out of the way and commenced loading the plates and saucers they used at dinner into the bottom rack. "I'm so excited I feel like I'm gonna combust. Geez, who would have ever thought my big sister would get to walk the red carpet in New York, on the arm of one of the best-selling novelists in the modern world? It's like a dream or something."

"If we feel like that, imagine how Hinata's feeling. I bet she's on cloud nine." Tenten dried her fingers, then went to the fridge to pull out the chocolate mousse she'd put there earlier to chill. "Could you get the spoons, please?"

Hanabi started the dishwasher, then went to get the spoons as requested. "You know, I saw that mousse in the fridge earlier, and it was all I could do to keep from digging in right then. Hinata keeps making either cinnamon rolls or these _decadent_ chocolate desserts, and if I keep eating them, I'm going to have to go on a diet or something, I just know it." She sighed, then smiled ruefully. "Eh, I guess I can always start tomorrow, right?"

Tenten laughed. "Right. And I know what you mean. Hinata did the same thing all the time when we roomed together, and it always drove me nuts. She's the one who gave me this recipe, actually. I can't make many fancy desserts - at least not the same way she does - and I kind of miss them, really."

Konohamaru and Neji looked up from the baseball game on TV when Tenten and Hanabi came into the room. "Who's winning?" the former asked, handing each male a dessert dish. Her cousin-in-law followed behind and parceled out spoons before settling on the couch next to her boyfriend.

Neji waited for Tenten to get comfortable on the loveseat next to him before replying. "I'll give you a clue: it's _not_ the Cubbies."

"Uncle Asuma actually took me on a roadtrip to Chicago once," Konohamaru mentioned, digging his spoon into his mousse with obvious relish. "I got to see the Cubs play. And you know something? They won that game!"

"It was certainly the day on which to catch them," Tenten agreed. "But unfortunately, their record of games won on the road just isn't that good."

"Not that their games in their home stadium are that much better," Hanabi sighed, licking her spoon. "I don't really get baseball, anyway. It's kind of, well, _boring_."

"It's a statistical game," Neji supplied. "It makes it more interesting than, say, golf."

Konohamaru snorted. "You're a doctor, though. Aren't you supposed to like golf in principle?"

"Yes, I suppose so. The doctor I did my residency with tried to get me into the game, but I nearly went crazy the one time he managed to drag me onto the green. Five holes in, I was ready to break a club over my knee." Neji glanced at the screen, but the network had cut to commercial. "To tell you the truth, I think it's more the fact they get a break than anything else that makes doctors like golf. I, however, have other ways of relaxing, so I'm prefectly content to leave golf to my esteemed comrades."

Tenten swirled the tip of her spoon through her dessert, knowing another _big_ reason why Neji hated the sport. Hiashi loved the game, always watching it on TV or playing it himself whenever he had some spare time. He also had an app on his phone which kept him updated on players, stats, and scores. He obsessed over the game, which naturally made Neji hate it. To be honest, Tenten didn't blame him. She figured anything Hiashi liked to do was more than fair game for her to hate, especially if Neji passionately despised it, too.

After that, the conversation turned to happier things. The four of them talked about New York and the things they'd like to see and do there, and after the baseball game went into the seventh inning, Neji changed the channel to the one broadcasting the red carpet walk for _Head Shot_. The pre-event buzz had already started, with Chiharu and Akira, the hosts for the evening, interviewing several people in the crowd.

"I don't know," Hanabi said after a while, her gaze focused on the TV. "I'm not an introvert or anything like that, but I don't think I'd want to get in a crowd that _huge_. I'm glad so many people went to this thing, don't get me wrong, but I just don't think I could handle being in a crowd that, well - _huge_." She rolled her eyes. "Let's face it, it's not like I'd be able to get that close to the front, anyway, and that's where all the _good_ stuff happens."

"I got close to the front of a crowd like that once," Konohamaru said. He'd set his empty mousse glass to the side and now sat with his arm around Hanabi's shoulders, looking relaxed and comfortable. "It was at a concert. I actually got the signatures of four out of the five band members that night. It was _great_!"

Hanabi leaned her head back against Konohamaru's arm and smiled at him. "You're going to be the one signing those autographs someday, you know that, right?"

Konohamaru turned five different shades of red and mumbled something Tenten didn't catch, but she rather thought he looked flattered all the same. She figured it must be nice to have the person you cared about so much believe such things were a certainty. She had a feeling it would help Konohamaru better achieve his dreams, someday.

Though Tenten still hadn't heard him play guitar. She hoped that would change sometime soon.

"Oh, here we go!" Tenten leaned forward and turned up the volume on the TV, drawing everyone's attention to it. "Limos are starting to arrive. It won't be much longer now, I'm sure."

The director arrived first, then a couple of the actors. When the producer showed up next, the four kept half their attention on the TV, but went back to conversing with each other for the most part. Though they'd all agreed to see _Head Shot_ together when it premiered in the local theater, they were all far more interested in Sasuke and Hinata than anyone else involved in the movie.

Utakata and Hotaru, the stars of the movie, were the next to arrive on the red carpet. A married couple in real life, they were also playing a husband-wife duo who had been dubbed the king and queen of the fashion industry. Tenten thought they were adorable, and though Hotaru seemed more comfortable during the interview than her husband, Utakata answered the questions put to him with a kind of smooth charm which made him one of the biggest heartthrob actors in the world.

After they moved on, another limo pulled up to the foot of the red carpet. A man with spiky hair climbed out of the passenger seat, then moved to the back to open the door.

As soon as Tenten glimpsed the person climbing out, she squealed, "They're here!" and turned up the volume.

Sasuke was the first person out of the limo. He smiled briefly toward the crowd, then turned back and held out his hand to assist Hinata. The flashing lights of hundreds of cameras going off made her jewelry glitter and her dress shine. Tenten just knew her cousin-in-law was about to become America's next sweetheart. How could everyone _not_ love her?

"Sasuke, Sasuke!" The chant of the crowd came loud and clear through the TV's speakers, and Sasuke smiled and waved with one hand as he offered his opposite elbow to Hinata. Together they made their way along the red carpet, partitioned off by swagged crimson velvet ropes, like waves on the sea, smiling and waving at the people who had come out to see the stars.

Only a few seconds later, the couple paused in front of the camera crew and TV personalities. Tenten thought Sasuke and Hinata looked equally nervous. She leaned forward on the couch and crossed her fingers, thinking, _I know you guys can do this! Don't choke, don't choke, don't choke..._

"Sasuke," the blonde reporter greeted them as they stopped alongside her. "It's great to see you here! How are you feeling tonight?" With a wide grin for the camera, she thrust the mic toward Sasuke's face.

Sasuke's head jerked minutely, and he glanced at Hinata briefly before smiling and responding to Chiharu's question. "Excited," he admitted. "And a little nervous, too. _Head Shot_ is one of my favorite books, so I'm really hoping everyone will like the movie."

Though Tenten could tell Sasuke was nervous, she also noticed how he spoke smoothly, without even a hint of a tremor in his voice. It was like he'd been doing this his whole life.

Chiharu pulled the microphone back to herself. "This will be the first time you've seen it as well, right?" she asked.

"That's right," Sasuke confirmed. He looked into the camera and smiled again, as Hinata looked up at him and did the same. "It's exciting for me, though. This way I get to experience the same thing as my fans do, at the exact same time!"

Laughing throatily, Chiharu turned her sharp gaze to Hinata. "And we're all _dying_ to know, Sasuke: who is this lovely lady on your arm?"

Tenten felt herself tense. Though she knew Hinata wouldn't be able to traverse the red carpet without being questioned, she could tell the dark-haired beauty was suddenly feeling the pressure of the people, the lights, and the cameras. "Come on, come on," she whispered, feeling Neji tense beside her. "You can do this, Hina."

Sasuke must have sensed Hinata's momentary attack of nerves, because he covered her hand on his arm with his own and smiled down into her eyes. To Tenten's surprise, Hinata immediately relaxed, her eyes glowing and smile widening at his attention.

"This," Sasuke answered, his voice resonating with sincerity, "is Hyuuga Hinata. I only met her recently, but it feels like I've known her all my life. She's my friend, confidante, muse, and the absolute one and only love of my life."

Hanabi gasped, and Konohamaru choked on the drink of water he'd just taken. An almost hysterical giggle escaped Tenten's throat; beside her, Neji sat straight up on the loveseat, his pale eyes wide with obvious shock.

"Ohmigosh," Hanabi whispered, but her voice quickly rose to a squeal. "That was _the most romantic thing ever_!"

On screen, Hinata's cheeks flushed bright red under her expertly applied makeup, and for a long moment she and Sasuke just stared at each other, smiling like they were the only two people anywhere in the world.

 _Correction_ , Tenten thought wryly. _I just saw the birth of America's_ sweethearts _, plural!_

Giving a little jolt, Chiharu drew her mic back to herself and fanned her face with her free hand. "That is, I think," she said hoarsely, "the most romantic thing I have ever heard in my entire life." After that, it seemed she wasn't sure what to say, so she just stood there watching Sasuke and Hinata with a happy little smile on her face.

Her companion, who up until then had remained silent, jumped in to fill the quiet void. "Thank you so much for the interview," the dark-haired man said with a smile. "We'll let you continue on."

A round of thank-yous passed among them, and then Sasuke and Hinata resumed their walk. The camera followed the pair while Sasuke paused every few steps to sign autographs, Hinata waiting patiently at his side and answering questions when they were asked of her.

At last, they reached the front doors and were ushered inside, vanishing from sight as Sasuke's agent, Jiraiya, and his date (was that _Tsunade?_ ) started their own walk.

Hanabi fell back against the couch cushions, a big grin on her face, pillow hugged tightly in her arms. "That was _so romantic!_ " she squealed again. "Oh, big sis!" She laughed.

"He just made the biggest declaration of love _ever_ on live TV," Konohamaru stated, shaking his head. "Way to ruin it for the rest of us!" he called toward the television, but his smile took the sting out of his words.

Tenten couldn't _wait_ to talk to Hinata about all this, though she knew it likely wouldn't be until tomorrow. After the movie, she and Sasuke would go out to dinner with the director, writer, producer, and some of the actors, which would stretch well into the morning hours.

But _still_! It was all Tenten could do to keep herself from snatching up her phone and dialing right then.

She looked over at her husband, who was sitting with his hand over his eyes, shaking his head. _Oh boy,_ Tenten thought. She could tell Neji wasn't mad, but he was less than amused.

 _That phone conversation with Hinata tomorrow will_ definitely _be interesting!_

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ First, I want to apologize for my hiatus! I hated not updating last week, but by the time it came around, I was a complete mess. The Bug that knocked out the rest of my family made its way to me at last, and for almost a week I was completely useless. But after a round of antibiotics, lots of rest, and some TLC (including from my dog, who was literally glued to me the whole time), I'm happy to report I'm feeling much better. Hopefully there won't be any more breaks between now and the last chapter of the story. Now, I have to say, I really did enjoy writing this scene from someone else's POV - when I wrote the original red-carpet walk, it was fun. But there was just something special about writing it this way, having an outsider's look at what was happening. And I also adored writing Neji, Tenten, Hanabi, and Konohamaru just kind of relaxed and hanging out together. It was so natural - they all just kind of took over, and the scene wrote itself. I really loved writing it, and I hope it was fun to read, too! And as far as the joke about the Chicago Cubs baseball team - there's an inside joke in my family about the Cubbies, and I couldn't resist throwing it in there. Sorry if it makes no sense. Thank you all so much for checking out this chapter - I aplogize again for the wait! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!


	11. Shock

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , and _rao hyuga 18_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** I love NejiTen. I really do. I never lose interest in this ship, but somehow I manage to love it more everyday. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XI~***

 _~Shock~_

* * *

"It's eleven," Hanabi pointed out, not bothering to tear her gaze away from the screen. "Do you think it'd be safe to call now?"

Tenten couldn't have looked away from the TV if she'd wanted to - which part of her did, actually. "I have no idea. Poor Hina's probably in shock, too, if she's turned on the television. Or her computer. Or her phone, even."

"Or she died of a heart attack." Hanabi shook her head slowly, almost as if she were in a trance. "Then again, we probably would have heard about it if she had. Something like that is bound to make the news, especially considering this, right?" She waved one hand toward the TV vaguely.

Neji, who glowered at the TV as if it had committed some personal, grievous offense against him, reached out to pick Tenten's phone off the table. "Call her again," he said. " _Now_."

"Yeah, good idea." But before Tenten could dial, her phone rang in her hand. She hit the _answer_ button and blurted out breathlessly, "Hinata!" Thank goodness she'd finally returned the phone call(s).

"Tenten, I had the most _amazing_ time last night!" Hinata's voice bubbled with laughter, clearly still high on the excitement from the night before. "It was so-"

Tenten hated to do it, but knew it was necessary to cut her off. "Hina, have you turned on the television yet this morning?"

Silence. Then a slow, cautious, "No, I just woke up. Why?"

Tenten was quiet for a long moment, trying to decide the best way to say what needed to be said. Deciding it would be best just to come out with it, she cleared her throat before answering. "You can turn on just about any channel today, and you and Sasuke are the top news story."

Hinata nearly choked on the other end. " _What_?" Fabric rustled, then several thumps on the other end came clearly through the line. Tenten wished she knew what was happening, but all she could hear now was her cousin-in-law breathing.

Then, finally, she breathed an epithet which was halfway a prayer.

"I take it as you just turned on the TV?" Tenten asked. She figured that reaction meant Hinata had finally seen what everyone else saw: every entertainment newscast was showing and re-showing the video of Sasuke declaring his love for Hinata, and the fact it had millions of hits on popular social media sites.

Without waiting for Hinata to answer, she continued, "Hanabi and I both think it's terribly romantic. Neji is fit to be tied. And none of us have even dared to _try_ to contact Hiashi."

"Can you _believe_ this?" Tenten heard Sasuke ask on the other end of the line. "Jiraiya called me a little bit ago and told me to turn on the TV. This is - it's - it's _everywhere_. We've supposedly set a new record for the highest number of hits in the least amount of time."

"You and Sasuke have basically set off a media firestorm." Tenten sighed again.

Neji muttered, "They're the biggest thing in the world right now." He ran his hand through his hair. "My little cousin. I don't believe it..."

Tenten swallowed back a laugh, then passed the news on to Hinata. "Like Neji just reminded me, several channels have mentioned you as 'the biggest thing in the world' right now." A nervous giggle shook out of her, and this time she couldn't hold it back. "You're even bigger than the royal couple and babies, Hinata!" Not that Tenten didn't love William, Kate, and Royal Baby Number Two, but it was kind of awesome that _Hinata_ , her _cousin-in-law_ , had surpassed even them in the limelight.

Hanabi melted back against the couch cushions and shook her head. "Amazing," she whispered. "My big sister. This is _huge_."

By this time, Tenten figured all Hinata wanted to do was go back to bed, pull the covers over her head, and pretend all this wasn't happening. When Hinata breathed, "Oh, no," then, again, "Oh, _no_ ," Tenten knew her instinct was right. The poor girl really did want to hide from everything.

She heard Sasuke and Hinata whispering for a minute, neither of them sounding particularly steady. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her. "What's going on?" Tenten asked over the phone. "Neji wants to know: Are you starting home today, or are you going to stay in New York as you planned?"

Neji gave her a grateful look for asking the question. She'd known to say the words without him doing so first - after knowing him for as long as she had, Tenten knew what her beloved husband was going to say before the words even left his mouth.

On the other end, Hinata repeated Neji's question to Sasuke. "No," Tenten heard him reply. "I already talked to Jiraiya about it. He said it should be okay if we stay. After all, we have Izumo and Kotetsu if and when we decide to leave the hotel."

"Did you catch all of that, Tenten?" After Tenten replied in the affirmative, Hinata added, "It's not like we have hired assassins gunning for us. We'll be fine."

"Tonight," Sasuke said suddenly. "We'll go tonight, but late, so hopefully no one will notice. If we time it right, with luck the paparazzi should have given up - if they even know this is where we're staying - and there shouldn't be too many people there. Plus, Izumo and Kotetsu are used to dealing with media attention around their clients, if we do encounter any."

Tenten knew without asking Sasuke was talking about the Empire State Building. Hinata had always wanted to go, and she knew the author wouldn't leave New York without making sure his girlfriend got to see the view of the city from the top of the building she'd so long adored. "I guess that'll be okay," Tenten agreed doubtfully. "I won't call you anymore today, promise, and I'll pass on the word to Neji and Hanabi. Want me to call Sakura and Ino, too?"

"Yes, please. And I'll call you tomorrow as soon as I know what our plans are, okay?" Hinata sounded much calmer than she had been when they'd first started the call, though a jagged edge of anxiety still rippled through her tone every few words.

"Sounds good." They said goodbye and hung up.

Tenten looked to the TV again. Neji had changed the channel to yet another network which was reshowing a video of Sasuke's declaration of love, and the hit count was _still climbing_.

Sighing, Tenten turned to include Neji and Hanabi in what she was about to say. "Okay, Hinata is going to call tomorrow to let us know how the trip to the Empire State Building went, and what their plans are about when to leave. Once they're out of the city, it should be easy to avoid the press, and then they'll be back in a few days."

"They're going on to the Empire State Building?" Hanabi shook her head. "Yeesh, they're braver than I am. I can't imagine going to such a public place like that with the paparazzi on my tail."

"They're going late tonight in order to avoid such nuisances." Tenten scrolled through her phone contacts, then shot off a quick text to Sakura. She was on duty at the hospital, so she wouldn't be able to talk until later in the evening. Ino, however, was a completely different story. The flowershop usually wasn't super-busy during the day, so she had plenty of time to talk if someone called.

Neji rubbed his hands over his face. "I have a bad feeling about this," he groaned. "Hinata and Sasuke are asking for trouble, going to the Empire State Building after what all's gone on."

Tenten shrugged as she sent Sakura's text. "Maybe," she said. "But I gotta admire their guts. Besides, there's something to be said about a guy who's willing to be a little risky to fulfill his girl's dreams."

Pulling his hands away from his face, Neji's eyes softened as they met hers. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Reaching out, he folded her into his arms and pulled her in for a kiss. "All right, all right, I know when I've been outvoted."

Across the room, Hanabi groaned and pulled a pillow over her face. "Ugh, guys!" she exclaimed. "Newlywed grossness alert!"

Giggling, Tenten planted one more deliberate kiss on Neji's lips before pulling back. "And now," she said with a sigh, "I need to call Ino."

Hanabi snickered. "That'll kill the mood." She sounded pleased at the prospect.

Neji narrowed his eyes at his cousin. "Remember, you're here on sufferance, little missy. Keep that in mind the next time you feel like getting sassy."

Letting the pillow drop into her lap, Hanabi drew an invisible halo over her head. "A little angel," she promised with a grin. "I'll be a quiet, little sweet angel from here on out, promise."

Laughing, Tenten slipped from the room, letting Neji and Hanabi continue to tease each other as she dialed Ino. But the warmth from their easy camaraderie lingered in her chest. _I love my family._

* * *

Later that night, Neji found his thoughts straying to his cousin and her - _author friend_ between cases in the ER. As he sipped his umpteenth cup of coffee, which tasted like motor oil and went down like brown sludge, he wondered if they'd left for the Empire State Building.

Or, even better, wised up and decided not to go. If, instead, they were stealing out of the city in the middle of the night like refugees, trying to avoid the paparazzi.

Laughing at his own thoughts, Neji took another drink of coffee and checked the clock. Eleven Missouri time, which meant it would be midnight in New York. They were probably in the building right then, admiring the city lights and...

...Doing things Neji would really rather not think about. _This is a dangerous line of thought._ He looked around the breakroom for something to distract himself, even willing to read one of the numerous vapid magazines loading down the waiting room if it meant erasing the images searing and scarring their way into his mental eye.

As if reading his mind, Dr. Kawaguchi poked her head into the breakroom and looked relieved when she saw Neji. "New patients incoming," she said. "You're needed in the ER."

"Coming." Neji disposed of his coffee cup and hurried after her, glad the breakroom wasn't far away from the emergency room. "What's going on?"

"Four-car accident on the freeway," the petite brunette reported crisply. "Ambulances are enroute now. The police are bringing in the instigator; seems like he's higher than a kite and was completely relaxed at the time of the accident, so the police just need you to give him a quick exam before they haul him off to jail."

Neji fought to hold back a wince. "Any fatalities?" he whispered.

Dr. Kawaguchi gave him a quick, sympathetic look. "No," she said. "Some serious injuries, but no fatalities."

They entered the ER just then, the maelstrom of activity already going on preventing them from further discussion.

Two men in police uniforms stood firmly on either side of a gurney, where a handcuffed, disheveled man sat glaring sullenly at the wall across the room.

"Doctor," the officer on the right greeted Neji. "Here's Tōmon Kidōmaru, the cause of all this mess. We just need you to give him a quick look-over before we haul him off to cool his head and detox."

"Doubt he's hurt that much," the other officer muttered. "Guy was loose as a goose when he hit. But we gotta do it, so hurry it up, Doc."

Neji fought back the urge to frown. "All right." Though he wanted to rush through the exam, he forced himself to be thorough and meticulous as always, trying to see this man as nothing more than a patient. Certainly not as the jerk who had caused a four-car wreck. Thoughts of the little boy so recently lost to an auto accident niggled at the back of his mind, needing to be suppressed.

Neji's examination revealed a few minor cuts and bruises, but no broken bones or internal injuries. The man's pupils reacted to the penlight in strange ways due to the drugs he'd taken, making it more difficult to test for a concussion, but as far as Neji could tell, the man had escaped the wreck he caused practically unscathed.

"Come on, Doc," Kidōmaru wheedled toward the end of the exam. He glanced at the officers, who had moved back a little to make more room for Neji to do his work. "There's somethin' bad wrong with me, right? I'm inna awful lot of pain." He blinked sluggishly, an ingratiating grin curling his lips. "You're gonna recommend admitting me, right? I can't go to jail, Doc, I can't."

"There is nothing seriously wrong with him," Neji said firmly to the officers, backing away from the gurney. "Other than some cuts and bruises, he appears to have suffered no ill effects from the wreck. You can take him away, officers, with my thanks." He turned away, pulling off his gloves as he headed toward the disposal, then left the cubicle, totally ignoring the ugly look his erstwhile patient gave him.

Behind him he heard the jingle and click of metal as the officers recuffed their prisoner. He went to stand next to Kyoko in the nurses' station, more than ready, truth be told, to be done with the case. He was barely aware of the trio moving past on their way to the exit from the ER, intent on giving details of his final diagnosis and treatment to the nurse to be entered into the hospital computer system.

The sudden sharp sounds of a scuffle drew his attention to the far end of the bay, where he saw Kidōmaru break away from his escorts and turn in his direction. With an utter sense of shock he realized the man had somehow gained possession of one of the officer's guns, and was swinging it around - to point in _his_ direction.

Reacting on instinct, Neji put a hand on Kyoko's shoulder and exerted a downward pressure as he snapped, "Kyoko, down!" in his most commanding voice. The nurse, conditioned to respond instantly to a doctor's orders, immediately dropped into a crouch as the first bullet spectacularly shattered through the the flatscreen moniter she'd been standing in front of only a scant second before. Neji's reflexes, honed from years of being a martial artist, screamed at him to do the same. But then he felt an impact knock him backwards, as if someone had punched him in the shoulder. He twisted as he reeled from the blow; a blink later, he felt another punch to his chest, slamming him to the floor.

Pain pulsed through his chest and shoulder with each breath, and a warm stickiness saturated his scrubs. As he heard Kyoko scream his name, Neji knew with absolute certainty what had just happened, his experience and education as a doctor making it clear what was going to happen next as an organized chaos formed around him. Hands were on him, exerting pressure on his shoulder as another, authoritative voice sounded above him.

They were too late, he thought dimly. His grasp on the world, on reality, slipped away quickly, darkness drawing its way inwards across his vision, obscuring away the world.

 _I am going to die._ Dr. Kawaguchi's face appeared in the pinprick of sight he had left, her mouth moving as she snapped out orders he couldn't hear. He allowed his eyes to sag closed, since they were too heavy to hold open any more.

One last thought seared through his mind before the pain tore him away. _Tenten, my love, I am sorry to leave you alone so soon._

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ ...Those of you who have read _Entanglements_ knew that was coming. To all, I apologize, and please don't kill me? I can hardly believe we're to this part of the story already, but there's still a fair amount to go before we're through. And if it helps - I _love_ stories with happy endings. Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!


	12. Panic

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _rao hyuga 18_ , _Kagamine Arimonori_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _Guest_ , and _Ami1010_ for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** This chapter was interesting to write. I was coming at it from the perspective of knowing what had just happened in the previous one, but at the beginning of this one I couldn't let any of that come through. Everything had to be normal and happy. It was hard in a way I hadn't anticipated, but I like the progression of emotion in this chapter. I hope you all do - thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XII~***

 _~Panic~_

* * *

"It's just so - _perfect_!" Tenten swirled the last little bit of wine in her glass before swallowing it down, letting its fragrant bouquet linger on her tongue for a moment longer.

Leaning back against the arm of the couch while the movie credits rolled on the television, Hanabi curled her nose slightly. "I don't know," she said. "When I watch a romance movie, I go in more for movies like _Pride and Prejudice_." A movie they had just watched earlier in the evening, since both women adored it. "Or _Kate and Leopold_. Time travel is fun, and if there's not time travel, it should at least take place in the past."

"Hmm, while I can see your point, there are a few contemporary movies which get me every time." Setting aside her glass, Tenten reached for the remote to stop the movie and eject the disc from the DVD player. " _Return to Me_ \- I don't know, it's just so, like I said, _perfect_."

"You just like the song." Hanabi bounced to her feet, returned the disc to its case, then ran her finger along the movie shelves to find another for them to watch. They'd both agreed to have a girl's movie night, marathoning romances until Neji finally got off his shift at 5 A.M. It was only now a little after eleven, so they had several hours left. "I know that's what made you watch it in the first place. After all, _Return to Me_ is the first song you and Neji danced to for your wedding."

" _Maybe_." Tenten scrunched herself back in the corner of the couch and grinned. "The song brought me to the movie first, but the story keeps me coming back. C'mon, aren't you glad you watched it at least _once_?"

Hanabi rolled her eyes as she stuck her next choice in the player and closed the tray. "All right, yes, _once_. But this one's better." She grinned as the menu for _Kate and Leopold_ popped upon the screen. "Contemporary _and_ historical at the same time, plus Hugh Jackman - seriously, how can you possibly go wrong?"

"True, true." Tenten hugged a pillow against her chest. "But _While You Were Sleeping_ is next. Another contemporary, but it's also got a great story."

"Okay, you've got me on that one. It's contemporary, but one of my favorites, too." Hanabi picked up her glass of lemonade, the ice half-melted now, and took a drink as the opening scene of the movie played out.

The modern part of the movie had just begun when a knock sounded on the door. Puzzled, Hanabi hit the pause button as Tenten got to her feet and reached for one of her many weapons close at hand. "Who in the world would come to the door at this hour of the evening?" the younger woman voiced the rhetorical question both were thinking.

Holding the katana loosely but comfortably in her hand, Tenten paused a few steps away from the door and called firmly, "Who is there?"

"Inuzuka Kiba," the muffled response came immediately.

Tenten wrinkled her brow at the name. A friend of Hinata's, the most popular of Konoha's K-9 branch of the police force hadn't yet had a reason to visit her and Neji's house. The fact he was there at eleven-thirty on a Friday night made a knot form in Tenten's stomach, but she reassured herself with the fact he should definitely be off-duty. Maybe he was just coming by to talk about what had happened the night before with Hinata. While he was no gossip, he would know her family would know more about what had happened than him or any other of her friends.

"Who is it?" Hanabi asked, appearing in the doorway. Though she didn't hold any weapons, she did have her cell phone in her hand, and Tenten knew she was ready to dial 911 if necessary.

"Kiba," Tenten said shortly. Carefully returning the katana to its sheath, she set it aside before unlocking and opening the front door. "Good evening..." Her words trailed off at the grim look on the dark-haired man's tattooed face.

Briefly glancing past Tenten to Hanabi, Kiba shifted his weight uncomfortably on his feet and then ventured, "Ah, may I come in?"

Tenten noticed it was raining, and wondered when that had started. "Y-yes, of course." Stepping out of the way, she waited for Kiba to move past her before closing the door behind her. "Can I get you anything to drink, or-?"

"Please," Kiba said, holding up a hand. "This is already hard enough to do without putting it off, so please, no pleasantries."

Her mouth went dry, and her heart began pounding double-time as she felt Hanabi grab her arm. "Please," Tenten rasped. "Kiba, what's happened?"

Rubbing his hands nervously on his pant legs, Kiba looked from Tenten to Hanabi and back, opened his mouth; closed it, cleared his throat, and tried again. "There's been an - an _incident_ in the emergency room this evening. There was a four-car accident on the freeway, and the man who caused it was on drugs at the time. It's standard procedure for them to be taken to the ER to be checked out before being taken to jail, and - and Dr. Hyuuga was the one to examine him. Somehow the guy got free of his cuffs, and there were - _shots_ \- fired..."

The edges of Tenten's vision fizzed to grey for a moment, and she grabbed on to Hanabi. They held each other up, _Please no!_ beating through her brain in time with her throbbing heart. _Neji!_

"He's still alive," Kiba hurried to add, as if just then realizing he'd not yet delivered that news. Before Tenten could find solace in that piece of information, he continued, "But they had to rush him straight to surgery. He was shot once in the shoulder, and once in the chest, and - and the second came really close to his heart."

Leaning a little closer, Kiba touched her shoulder. "The chief called me - he knew I'd want to be the one to tell you. I came to drive you to the hospital."

Tenten nodded woodenly. "Yes, of c-course. If you'll give me just a moment...?" It took only a few seconds for her and Hanabi to grab shoes, neither of them caring they were in their pajamas. They grabbed their purses, Tenten her phone, then locked the door on their way out. She didn't even realize until they were in Kiba's force-issued SUV - with a huge cage for Akamaru, his canine partner, in the back, empty since Kiba was off-duty - that she and Hanabi hadn't thought to turn off the lights, TV, or DVD player.

Not that it mattered, not in the grand scheme of things.

As Kiba pulled away from the curb and pointed his vehicle toward the hospital, he flipped on the lights, but kept the siren quiet so as not to disturb the neighborhood. "Hanabi, the back probably smells like dog. Sorry. I haven't had a chance to give Akamaru a bath recently, or the interior of the car cleaned."

"It's all right," Hanabi said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't mind." She'd curled herself into a little ball, knees hugged to her chest, chin resting on top. She wasn't crying yet, but Tenten feared the tears were imminent.

Turning around in the front seat, she looked at her cousin-in-law through the mesh separating the front of the vehicle from the back and suggested, "Why don't you call Konohamaru? I'm sure he'll want to - to be here for you."

Hanabi's face brightened for a moment, then her eyes dulled again and she nodded. "Okay." She stared at the screen of her phone for a long time, as if she'd forgotten how it worked. Tenten was just about to offer to call when she heard the phone dialing, and turned back towards the windshield to give the other woman a semblance of privacy.

The majority of the ride to the hospital passed in a blur. Before Tenten really absorbed the fact she was there, Kiba was gently guiding her and Hanabi through the doors into Emergency, one arm gently and protectively curled around each of their shoulders.

Before they could even get settled in the waiting room, the doors swished open behind them, and Konohamaru came running in. He was wearing sandals, his khaki shorts wrinkled, shirt buttoned crookedly, hair sticking up in a decidedly _un_ artful way, as if he'd been dragged from bed. "Hanabi?"

She gave a little cry and pulled away from Kiba, allowing Konohamaru to enfold her in his arms and rock her. He met Tenten's eyes above her head, questions flickering through his eyes. "What happened?"

Kiba, bless him, explained the situation while Tenten went to the front desk. "I'm here for-"

The grey-haired nurse recognized her. "Mrs. Hyuuga, yes. I'm sorry, there's been no news on your husband yet." Leaning over the desk, she grasped Tenten's hand and squeezed it, offering a grimly reassuring smile. "But take heart, my dear - no news is good news at this point, and your husband is a fighter."

Somehow, Tenten found herself in the waiting room, though she had no conscious memory of walking there. Konohamaru had gotten Hanabi settled in a chair; he crouched before her, speaking to her in a low, soothing tone. He stroked his thumbs across her hands, which he held in his own.

Tenten drifted to the window, where she stared out over the parking lot, full of shadows broken by pools of orangish illumination from the security lights. Something niggled at the back of her mind, something important, but she couldn't think of what it was.

A cleared throat behind her drew her attention back to Kiba, who rocked back and forth on his heels nervously. "Mind you," he began, "I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but - shouldn't Hinata know?"

 _Hinata_. Tenten felt a rush of shame briefly overwhelm her mingled anxiety, grief, and anger - _how_ could she not have thought of calling her cousin-in-law, who was more like a sister to Neji?

"No, you didn't overstep." Tenten reached into her purse, still over her shoulder, and pulled out her phone. "Thank you - I-I'll call her now."

Kiba nodded and offered her a bracing smile, then stepped away to sit down a few chairs away from Hanabi and Konohamaru. Tenten clung to the little strength he'd tried to imbue within her and hit the predial for Hinata's familiar number with her shaking hands.

For a moment she thought Hinata might have turned it off, since she and Sasuke were probably still at the Empire State Building. Just when Tenten wondered whether she should leave a voicemail - and if so, what she should say - Hinata answered.

"Hello? What's going on?" The hum of voices in the background nearly drowned out Hinata's soft, puzzled voice.

Tenten swallowed hard, her words suddenly trapped in her throat. She knew she needed to answer, and curled her free hand into a fist as she swallowed back her fear. "Hinata - you really need to come home. There - there's been an accident. Neji's been shot, and-"

Hinata's cry cut off any further words. Tenten half-expected to hear the phone thunk to the ground, but instead, Sasuke's voice carried to her ears. "Hello? Tenten? This is Sasuke. What's going on? Hinata nearly passed out."

Tenten bit down on a sob, though she couldn't completely muffle it. _I should have figured out a better way to break the news._ "I'm sorry." Before he could say anything more, she went on, "Hinata needs to come home _right now_. Th-there was an incident at the hospital."

She heard him draw in a sharp breath, but again spoke in a voice thick with tears before he could say anything more. "Neji's in surgery right now - and it's bad. _Really_ bad."

Another bout of silence on the line, and then, "I'm sorry, Tenten, hang on a moment." Low voices on the end kept her reassured he hadn't hung up, and a couple of minutes later, Hinata returned to the phone.

"Tenten, what happened?" Her voice was hoarse, low and labored, as if she were trying not to cry. "We're on the way to the van, to head back to the hotel."

Tenten drew in another fortifying breath and forced herself to be as businesslike as possible, laying out the facts much as Kiba had - though, hopefully, with a little more tact. "The police brought in a guy, higher than a kite, who'd been involved a traffic accident. Neji was just supposed to check him over before the officers took him to jail, but somehow he got out of his cuffs, grabbed a gun, and got off three shots before the police got him under control."Tenten let out another sob, feeling just a few seconds away from completely losing it. But she couldn't, not yet, not until she'd given Hinata all the details. "Two of them hit Neji. One was a through-and-through his shoulder and didn't hit anything major, but the other - it lodged so close to his heart, Hinata. So close. They're trying to get it out now."

Hinata released a ragged breath, then drew in another shuddering one. "Is - is that it, then? Is that all you know?"

"I'm afraid so." Tenten wanted to go beat her fists against the ER doors until someone came out and gave her an update, but she knew she could bang until her hands were bloody, and it would do no good until there _was_ something to report. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, especially considering everything..."

"No, no, it's all right. Thank you for letting me know." Hinata sniffled. "Sasuke's on the phone right now, trying to find us a flight out of New York. He said - he said he'll wake Jiraiya and have him working on his end, too. We'll be there as quickly as we can, and I'll call back with our flight information as soon as I know it."

"All right." Tenten swallowed thickly and closed her eyes, resting her head against the smooth, cool glass of the window. "I'll see you soon, Hina."

"You too, Tenten." Hinata hung up, and it took a few moments for Tenten to register the silence before she finally lowered the phone from her ear.

Tucking the phone back into her purse, Tenten moved across the room to sit down next to Hanabi, briefly meeting Konohamaru's eyes over her head. Looking away from the concerned sympathy in them, Tenten pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, knowing there was nothing now any of them could do but sit, wait, and pray.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ I love girl's movie night marathons. I like a little bit of everything (comedy, action/adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.), but there's just something about sitting down with a whole stack of chick flicks that just makes a night perfect. (And the movies listed? You guessed it, some of my faves. I recommend them all, but especially _While You Were Sleeping_.) And I broke my own rule - I apologize! It typically drives me crazy when I see American names mixed in with Japanese in fics, even if the fic is set in America. So I tend to avoid doing that when writing. But I threw in Hugh Jackman's name - so I aplogize. I couldn't resist (I did try, promise). Anyway, it was interesting progressing through all the different emotions in this chapter - from silly fun at the beginning, to the sense of something not being right, to the shock and grief and worry. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!


	13. Interminable

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _Yukiko'Yuli_ , _Ami1010_ , and _rao hyuga 18_ for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** Oh, this chapter. It's a really long one, which is good. I wrote it in one long marathon sitting. I just sat down with my headphones on so I could block out the world, and then I just wrote and wrote and wrote until this chapter was finished - at 1:30 in the morning. And then I fell into bed and slept way longer than I usually do (thank goodness I didn't have to work the next morning!). But the thing about this chapter? It's one of my favorites, and I wouldn't trade it and the experience of writing it for anything. I hope you all enjoy it, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XIII~***

 _~Interminable~_

* * *

Tenten feared the night would never end.

At the same time, the more she thought about it - and, honestly, she had nothing _but_ time to think extensively on the subject - she feared the night _would_ end, and daylight would bring with it sorrow instead of hope.

Outside the waiting room doors, life continued on as if nothing had happened. As if her world hadn't been wrenched from its foundations and heartlessly crushed. As if her husband wasn't even then fighting to survive the mindless violence of a man too selfish to accept the consequences for his own crimes.

Eventually, she looked down at her phone and knew she could not put off any longer the one phone call she dreaded the most to make. Dialing the least-used number on her cell, she lifted the phone to her ear and waited through two rings. Three rings. Four rings. Five-

At last, someone picked up on the other end. "Do you realize what time it is? This had better be very important."

Biting down on her tongue to keep from saying something to Neji's uncle she knew she would regret, Tenten said, "It is, sir. I'm at the hospital - Neji was shot tonight while on duty." In as few words as possible, she explained what had happened.

A long silence met her on the other end, and Tenten wondered if Hiashi's cold exterior had finally cracked. She expected to hear a sharply indrawn breath, a shaky sigh, _something_. But instead there was only silence.

She was just getting ready to ask if he was still on the line when Hiashi finally made some sort of noncommital noise in his throat. "Very well, then. I have a very important, overseas teleconference in just a few hours and need a good night's rest to be at my sharpest, so I'll not come to the hospital tonight. Leave a message on my phone with an update. Good night." He hung up before Tenten could say anything further.

For a moment she gaped at her phone, torn between the conflicting, powerful urges to laugh, cry, or throw her phone across the room. Her arm muscles actually tensed. _That heartless ba-_

Hanabi's voice cut off the thought as neatly as a katana. "What did he say?" she asked. Her wide eyes made it clear she already knew it wasn't good, and Tenten wondered what the expression on her face conveyed.

Undoubtedly, it wasn't anything good. Forcing herself to set her phone aside instead of smashing it against the wall, Tenten relayed the conversation to her cousin-in-law, who winced, shook her head, and lapsed back into silence.

Tenten knew she should pull herself together and be stronger, if for no other reason than for Hanabi. But at the same time, Tenten knew Konohamaru was there, and contented herself with leaving the younger of her cousins-in-law in his capable care while she withdrew into herself.

Once or twice her phone rang, and Tenten spoke to Hinata for a few minutes she barely could remember after hanging up. The details of the other woman's flight home barely registered, though she was relieved to find out that Naruto would be picking them up from the airport. She didn't want to have to leave the hospital long enough to pick them up herself, even if she felt steady enough to drive. But the trembling which had started at her core when she found out Neji had been shot had now spread through her body, leaving her feeling icy cold despite the heat and humidity outside.

Finally, around one o'clock, Kiba apologized and left. He had to be back on duty at seven, and needed to get some rest so he'd be alert enough to do his job. He begged Tenten to call and at least leave a message on his phone, though, when they found out something, which she promised to do.

A nurse slipped in to bring the three of them coffee around half an hour after Kiba left. Tenten cradled the cup of the foul-smelling brew in her hands, accepting the warmth it offered her but refusing to let the cup touch her lips. Even if she hadn't hated the taste of it before, it would be impossible to drink it now because it reminded her too much of Neji.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hanabi take a few sips, then make a face and give the rest of her cup to Konohamaru. Though sadness and concern lingered in his eyes, Tenten had to admit the young man was holding up remarkably well. She felt a deep gratitude for him, even though she couldn't seem to find her voice to convey her appreciation to him. He seemed to understand, though, and offered her a small smile before returning his attention to Hanabi, who had curled into his side until she looked like a tiny, fragile porcelain doll.

Time seemed to crawl past, each moment stretched to its maximum though the clock on the wall informed Tenten it moved at a normal pace. At last she tore her gaze away from the timepiece, knowing if she kept watching it she would go crazy. She pulled her feet up onto the chair and hugged her knees to her chest, firmly squashing the urge to go ask how it was going. She knew someone would come out to update her when there was something of import. Until then, she would just have to pray no news was good news.

Eventually, Hanabi and Konohamaru got up and told Tenten they were going out front of the hospital to wait for Hinata to arrive. She nodded to them, surprised to realize so much time _had_ passed. Her private flight would have landed at the nearest airport, and she was undoubtedly en route even then - probably only ten minutes or so out from the hospital.

While they were going, an older couple with a younger man who looked like their son came in. They'd been there earlier, Tenten dimly remembered, but had left about half an hour before. She couldn't quite gather up the energy to wonder why.

More time passed, marked off by each infernal tick of the clock across the room. Just when Tenten felt ready to explode in a scream, she heard her name spoken from the doorway, and looked up to see Hinata rushing in.

Tenten leaped to her feet and hurried over to hug her, breathing a quick prayer of gratitude that she had arrived safely. The two clung to each other for a long moment, then drew Hanabi into the circle as she approached. Over Hinata's shoulder, she saw Konohamaru and Sasuke share a look which she couldn't quite interpret.

A doctor came into the room, and Tenten felt herself tense in readiness. But to her disappointment, he went to the trio of other people and spoke to them. A few moments later, the small family left with the doctor, relieved expressions on their faces.

If only they could receive such good news, and soon!

After the three women parted, they all took their seats. Hanabi and Hinata flanked Tenten, with Sasuke and Konohamaru seating themselves next to their respective girlfriends. It felt strange yet nice to be so surrounded by her friends and family after isolating herself so much of the preceding night. She allowed herself to be drawn into hesitant conversations, though none of them lasted long before everyone fell back into their own ruminations.

The sun at last rose outside, sending streaks of almost unbearably bright light through the blinds over the windows and highlighting the worn, uncomfortable chairs lining the room. An aide came in with more coffee, this time accompanied by pastries, assuring them it wouldn't be too much longer before they finally heard word on Neji's condition.

Hanabi took a few bites of her pastry before drifting into an exhausted sleep, her head resting on Konohamaru's shoulder, his arm around her. Tenten felt her own eyes - undoubtedly red-rimmed, sunken, and hollow - droop in response. She was so, so tired, but she didn't dare let herself fall asleep. It was irrational, but she was afraid if she gave in to her urge to yield to her tiredness, Neji would lose his battle, and she could _not_ let that happen.

She thought Hinata might be asleep, but a few moments later she heard her and Sasuke whispering to each other. Tenten leaned her chin on her knees and closed her eyes, giving them at least a semblance of privacy. She allowed the sound of their voices to wash over her, though she forced herself not to concentrate on their exact words. Since Hanabi and Konohamaru had drifted off, it was nice to hear proof that someone else was with her.

More time passed as Hinata and Sasuke talked, and Tenten lost herself in her memories. She clung to the good times she and Neji had had during their years together: the first time they'd met in school, when she'd accidentally hit him in the face with her locker door; when he'd first asked her out their freshman year of high school; the letters, e-mails, and texts he'd sent her when they were both apart for college; the night he proposed, with her ring delicately wrapped around the tip of an old Japanese ninja _kunai_...

...Their wedding, such a short time ago. The nights they'd shared since then, getting to know each other in deeper, more intimate and beautiful ways than Tenten had ever thought possible. She felt the back of her throat begin to burn at the memory of his hands on her skin, his lips on hers, the feel of his soft hair beneath her own hands...

 _Neji,_ please _..._

Hinata's sharp elbow nudged Tenten's side, snapping her into awareness. She saw a doctor - dressed in blood-speckled scrubs and clearly exhausted - standing in the doorway looking at them. She quickly reached to shake Hanabi to wake her. All three women stood up and took several steps forward. Behind her, Tenten sensed Sasuke and Konohamaru drawing near, but they stopped a few feet away to allow the women privacy.

"He made it through surgery." The giddy wash of relief that went through Tenten at Dr. Watanabe's words was immediately tempered by apprenhension. Caught between warring senses of reality and unreality, she forced herself to concentrate on what the doctor said about Neji: on how the next couple of days were going to be critical; how one of the bullets had shattered his sternum and actually bruised his heart, and the complications that came from that; on how he still might need additional surgery to install a pacemaker temporarily to keep his heart beating in a regular rhythm.

"I know this is the question doctors always hate, but- Is he going to be all right?" Tenten asked, her hands gripped tightly together. She'd heard Neji talk about having heard that question countless times, but never thought she'd be uttering it herself. She held her breath while she waited for the response.

Something flickered through the doctor's eyes, but it vanished before Tenten could fully identify it. "I am cautiously optimistic, yes."

Tenten nodded, then said, "Thank you, Dr. Watanabe. When can I - we - see him?" Though she wanted the answer to be, "Immediately," she knew it was one she was unlikely to receive. Odds were Neji would have to spend an extended time in recovery, which meant it could still be _hours_.

Hours she did _not_ want to wait.

The doctor regarded her for a long moment from beneath lowered brows. "I don't advise it, Tenten. Right now Neji looks like he's at death's door. I wouldn't want my wife to see me in the condition he's in now. It will be very - disturbing for you." His eyes flicked to include Hinata and Hanabi.

Tenten felt her shoulders go back and her chin come up, ire stirring to life in her chest. On either side of her, Hinata's and Hanabi's did the same, and she knew she had their support as she responded, "Neji is my husband, and I want to see him as often as I can for as long as I can. He's been like a big brother to his cousins, and I know they feel the same way. We intend to be there for him."

Dr. Watanabe sighed heavily. "My wife would say the same thing. He's in recovery right now, and will be for a while longer. But once we've got him settled in the ICU, we'll see about letting you in for a few minutes at a time. You can move on up to the ICU waiting room now, if you like." Some of the tension eased out of his face, and he smiled directly at Tenten. "Neji's a fighter," he told her quietly. "And with you, Tenten,-" he widened his focus to Hinata and Hanabi, flanking her "-and both of you, pulling for him, I have no doubt he won't give up."

The doctor slipped out of the room, leaving Tenten, Hinata, and Hanabi to their hugs and tears - happy ones this time.

It wasn't the news of a miracle she'd been hoping for, but for now, Tenten could content herself with the knowledge Neji had made it through surgery and had a good chance of recovering.

* * *

Overwhelmingly, depressingly dim was Tenten's first impression of Konoha Memorial Hospital's intensive care unit waiting room when she and the others arrived at it. What little light there was came from two small table lamps, the overhead lights being off. She automatically reached for the switch to turn them on when she noticed the blanketed bundle lightly snoring on one of the two couches. Jerking her hand back, she went to settle in one of the chairs in a corner of the room, a chair as stiffly uncomfortable as those downstairs.

 _There must be a law-_ she thought vaguely, as Hinata, Hanabi, Konohamaru, and Sasuke each took seats on either side of her.

Tenten had just leaned her head back against the wall behind her and closed her scratchy eyes when she heard Hinata delicately clear her throat and ask very softly, "Has anyone called Father?"

Tenten felt herself tense, remembering back to the conversation she'd had with Hiashi earlier that morning. In a voice barely above a whisper, she replied shortly, "He had some sort of 'important,'" her tone dripped bitterness, "overseas teleconference this morning and needed a good night's rest to be at his sharpest. He said to leave a message on his phone with an update." Her hands curled into fists, and once again the murderous urge to smash something - preferably Hiashi's head - overcame her.

Hinata flinched and closed her eyes, looking like she, too, wanted to do some damage. Konohamaru shook his head and said in a half-disbelieving tone, "Man, that's harsh, putting business ahead of family."

"Yet that's how it's always been," Hinata said, deep grief evident in her voice. She saw how Sasuke instantly laid a comforting hand on her back. "Sometimes I wonder if-" She trailed off without finishing her sentence, leaning forward slightly and covering her mouth with her steepled hands.

Tenten, and undoubtedly the others, all clearly heard and agreed with the part of her sentence she didn't voice. _-Father would even mourn if one of us died._ It was a truly terrible concept, but when applied to Hiashi, it was all too probable.

A moment later Hinata uttered a muffled, barely audible, "I'm sorry."

Hanabi made a small sniffling sound and turned in her seat to rest her forehead against her boyfriend's shoulder.

Tenten shook her head hard, feeling something inside her snap at last. "No!" she hissed fiercely. " _You_ have nothing to apologize for, Hina. Mr. High-and-Mighty Hiashi, on the other hand-" She folded her lips tightly to keep any further thoughts on the matter inside as she wrapped her arms around her middle. The last thing they all needed was for her to spew her true - and somewhat vile - thoughts on the matter on top of an already tense and sensitive situation.

Everyone exchanged dark looks, then sank into silence, enveloped by their own individual thoughts. Tenten leaned her head back again, feeling herself begin to doze as she listened for the sound of another doctor or nurse to come to the doorway and call for her.

Tenten had no idea how long she'd been asleep - a light and disturbed sleep, but rest nonetheless - when a muted _chirp-chirp! chirp-chirp!_ came from the direction of the sleeping man, who slowly stirred and sat up. He looked somewhat startled to see them. _Please,_ went through her mind, _don't let him be a talker!_ But after inclining his head courteously toward them, he quietly got up, neatly folding his blankets before picking up a small toiletries kit Tenten hadn't noticed lying on the table next to the couch. He then departed, presumably to visit the men's room.

She shifted restlessly on her chair, daring another look at the clock, surprised to see only an hour had passed since she first laid her head back. "It must be nearly time for visiting hours to start." She scrubbed her hands together nervously. "Surely, surely, Neji is up from recovery, and we'll get to see him soon." Tenten resolutely refused to allow herself to believe anything less.

"I'm sure it won't be much longer," Hinata agreed passionately. Though her words sounded confident, Tenten saw an echo of her own thoughts reflected in her pale eyes as they both remembered Dr. Watanabe saying Neji might have to go back into surgery to have a pacemaker temporarily implanted to regulate his heartbeat.

 _If they'd had to do that, someone would let us know - right?_ Tenten could feel the skin around her mouth and eyes tighten, and forced herself to shove away the terrible thought. Maybe if she ignored it, the possibility of its truth would completely vanish.

Someone halted just inside the doorway, and Tenten sensed everyone go on the alert. But it was only the middle-aged man returning. He cleared his throat before saying in a low baritone, "Thank you for letting me sleep. My name is Nakamura Shingiro. Would you mind if I turned on the overhead lights and made a pot of coffee?"

"No, not at all; please do," Tenten responded politely. She resigned herself to spending more time with the foul smelling brew and the memories it invoked even as she forced herself to observe social niceities she was far from feeling. "I'm Hyuuga Tenten, and these are-" As the fluorescent lights in the ceiling came to life, sharply, stabbingly bright, she introduced the rest of the group. He acknowledged them each in turn, then went to the base cabinet and water cooler across from the couch where he'd slept and busied himself with the coffee maker.

Tenten watched Mr. Nakamura make his coffee to give herself something besides the current situation to focus on. While he worked, she noticed a small, motel-type refrigerator built into the cabinet, as well as a mini microwave oven on the opposite end of the countertop from the coffee maker. Those, she thought numbly, might come in handy later. She had a feeling she would be spending a _lot_ of time at the hospital for the forseeable future.

Tenten heard Hinata whisper something to Sasuke about getting a cup of coffee, but the author gently refused. As the skunky smell filled the room, the older woman trained her eyes on the doorway, wishing someone, _anyone_ , would come out and either tell them what was going on, or let her go back to see her husband.

She _needed_ to see him, to touch him, to know he was truly still in this world with her.

As if in answer to her desperate thoughts, the electronic lock on the doors into the ICU disengaged and the two leaves parted, one swinging inward as the other swung out. An average-looking nurse with straight brown hair and gentle brown eyes passed through them and crossed the hall to pause in the waiting room door. Tenten sat tensely forward on the edge of her chair, her eyes locking onto the nurse's. Before she or Hinata, who had perked up next to her, could speak, though, Mr. Nakamura spoke up. "'Morning, Matsuri, you're early." A shade of anxiety crept into his tone. "Everything as it should be?"

"Everything's fine, Mr. Nakamura, you'll get to see your wife at the usual time," the nurse said soothingly. "I actually came to get Mrs. Hyuuga. Dr. Hyuuga is up from recovery, and you can see him for a few minutes now. If you'll come with me?"

Tenten shot to her feet and quickly closed the distance between them. As she went, she asked, "His cousins will be able to see him, too, won't they? He's like their big brother." Though she was desperate to see Neji, she forced herself to ask the question, knowing they were probably every bit as anxious as she.

Matsuri smiled in Hinata and Hanabi's direction. "Certainly, though not for long. In about fifteen minutes, use the intercom," she indicated a panel set in the wall next to the ICU doors, "and someone will buzz you through."

"Thank you," Tenten heard Hinata say as the doors closed behind Tenten and the nurse.

Tenten had been in the hospital a few times in her life, though most of them were restricted to the cafeteria or the doctor's lounge for brief visits with Neji. But she remembered hazy bits and pieces of her time in the ICU after the car accident which stole the lives of her parents; she felt a chill sweep across her neck and shoulders as she followed Matsuri past the nurse's station in the center of the space. Little of what she saw matched up with those vague childhood memories: Glass-doored rooms now lined three sides of the area, some with curtains drawn across them, others not. A handful of computer screens at the nurse's station quietly monitored patients' vital signs, while others were dark, as the staff went about their duties with quiet, focused efficiency.

But the worst part was the atmosphere of actually being _in_ the ICU: the chill knowledge that within these walls people fought for their lives - and sometimes lost. That, in the intervening years, had significantly dimmed in Tenten's memory, but it came roaring back with a vengeance now.

 _Not Neji. He will live, and he will come out of this ICU just as strong and able as he was before._ Tenten forcibly shoved away all thoughts to the contrary as Matsuri paused in front of one particular door. "As you can see, Dr. Hyuuga is in room 306." She hesitated, her professional smile slipping slightly as her eyes darted away. "I know you're a doctor's wife, ma'am, and more familiar with these things than some. But above all, I want you to try to remember when you see him for the first time that he's doing very well. And just because he doesn't react to you doesn't mean he's unaware of you." She reached to slide open the door and pull the privacy curtain out of the way.

Tenten drew in a deep breath, briefly closed her eyes for a final prayer, and stepped into the room.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Note:**_ This chapter was a nightmare. But at the same time, it still wound up one of my favorites. I sat down and wrote it in one long marathon, with my headphones on to block out the world and everything I had focused on the next sentence, the next word, the next letter. Even though this chapter took everything I had at the time, I'm _really_ happy with how it turned out. I hope you all enjoyed it, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!


	14. Heart

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _rao hyuga 18_ , _naruto1389_ , and _Ami1010_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists.

 **Author's Note:** Oh, this chapter. I've been looking forward to it and dreading it in equal measure, and I'm glad I finally get to post it! I hope you all enjoy it, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XIV~***

 _~Heart~_

* * *

The first thing Tenten noticed when she stepped into the room was how cold it felt. Gooseflesh rippled up and down her arms as she wrapped them around herself and took another couple of shuffling steps forward, torn between equally strong urges to look at the figure on the single bed and do everything she could _not_ to look, for fear of what she knew she'd see.

But inevitably the urge to look won, and after a deep fortifying breath Tenten lifted her head.

For a heart-stopping, panicky moment all she could see were the machines and wires surrounding Neji. She couldn't find him among all the medical accoutrements which pumped antibiotics and painkillers into his system; monitored his heart-rate and breathing; and several other things she couldn't quite identify.

Finally, after several rapid blinks, Tenten took another step forward. Her focus shifted, and at last she spotted Neji. He was very pale - heart strikingly more so than usual - with dark bruise-like shadows under his eyes, making them look hollow and sunken, and his face almost gaunt. Bandages peeked out from beneath the blankets, alongside some of the medical equipment to which he was attached. Yellowish-brown splotches seeping out from under the edges of the bandages covering his left shoulder and the center of his otherwise bare chest confused her at first; but then she realized it was the antibacterial wash they used to help prevent infection by killing the bacteria normally found on skin.

Tenten lifted her shaking hands to her face to rub her eyes, then tucked them under her arms to keep herself from reaching out to him. He looked so (as much as she hated to think the word, but there seemed to be no alternative) _fragile_ , and there was so much tubing and such she didn't dare take the chance of jarring something loose. " _Neji_ ," she whispered. Her voice sounded raw, strangled.

She had no idea how long she just stood there next to the bed, staring at him. But then the sounds began to register: the steady _beep_ of the heart monitor, the _whoosh_ of the ventilator, and a faint buzzing sound she couldn't identify. The sounds were oddly invasive, but in a way she welcomed them because it meant Neji still clung to life.

Eventually Tenten couldn't bear not to touch him. Very, very carefully, she reached down and lifted aside a lock of his hair which had been caught on the ventilator tube sticking out of one corner of his mouth. Without consciously realizing it, she then began to stroke his hair, starting at his forehead and smoothing down the tangles in it until it stopped at his shoulders. Over and over she repeated the motion, wondering if it was as soothing to him as it was to her.

For that matter, she wondered if he could even feel it. _Does he know I'm here?_ Tenten swallowed down the lump in her throat, drawing in a shaky breath tainted by the strong bite of antiseptic. _Can he feel me? Hear me?_

She let out a long breath and tried to smile. "You are so brave," Tenten told him. "I could strangle you for it, you know. But you are _so_ brave." She swallowed back the urge to cry (she _couldn't_ , she _wouldn't_ ) and shook her head. "I want to throttle you, but at the same time I _am_ really proud." As if he weren't already heroic enough, no, saving lives in the ER wasn't sufficient. He had to go throw himself in front of bullets, too. Stretching over the bed rail, she brushed her lips lightly across his forehead, his eyelids, his cheekbones. She loved this man so much-

Tenten kind of lost track of time again, so focused was she on Neji. But then she heard the door open behind her. Straightening and turning her head, she saw Hinata appear in the doorway. Vaguely resenting the intrusion, a feeling she immediately squelched, she dredged up a faint, welcoming smile as her cousin-in-law came in.

Hinata looked exhausted; her obvious tiredness made the expression of utter shock on her face worse. She walked toward Neji's bed as if in a trance, her tiredly sunken pale eyes huge in her sheet-white face. At last she stopped next to the bed, her hands lifting to cling onto the railing so tightly her knuckles went as white as her face.

Worried, Tenten slid her arm around Hinata's shoulders. Her own feelings upon seeing Neji fresh in her mind, she quietly asked, "Are you okay, Hina?" Which was probably the stupidest question ever, but she needed to say something to jar Hinata out of her state of shock.

"Yes," Hinata replied instantly. It was blatantly a lie, but neither woman commented on it. She blinked rapidly a few times, though Tenten wasn't sure if it was from lingering shock or to banish tears. "It's just - seeing him like this - all because of some random craziness-"

Tenten felt herself go rigid. Frantically she thought back to the hazy phone conversations with Hinata; reviewed everything she could remember of various conversations since she'd arrived. Horrified, she realized no one had told her what actually happened.

"It wasn't random." Tenten could barely get the whisper out through her lips, but forced herself to continue even as she felt Hinata stiffen beneath her sheltering arm. "The crazy s.o.b. was trying to kill Neji, because Neji wouldn't admit him to keep him out of jail." She felt her eyes fill with tears again, but blinked them back. She would be strong for Hinata, who looked even closer to the breaking point than Tenten herself felt. "So instead of facing simple DWI charges, he's now going to spend serious time behind bars for attempted murder. I hope he rots and dies there." The last part tumbled out of her without permission, filled with all the poisonously angry feelings roiling around inside her. She couldn't give them vent any other way, and she couldn't make herself feel sorry for voicing the thought. She had a feeling Hinata would forgive her such a terrible wish, just this once.

"I'm sorry, Hina - I shouldn't have thrown it at you like that." Tenten shifted her gaze to her cousin-in-law, wondering if the woman was going to collapse at any moment. "We just have to totally believe that Neji is going to be all right."

To Tenten's surprise, Hinata drew in a deep breath and slowly but deliberately let go of the railing. Slipping her arm around Tenten's waist, the pale-eyed woman nodded and and said, "Yes, he will be." She sounded as if she wouldn't let herself believe anything else, and Tenten clung to the other's resolution and used it to fuel her own.

* * *

Hinata left relatively soon after that, after finally agreeing to go home, take a nap, and get something to eat. She'd return to the hospital in a few hours to spell Tenten, who logically knew she'd have to go do the same eventually.

Hanabi came into the room after her sister left, but unlike Hinata, she just stood there staring at her cousin. She hardly blinked, and for a few seconds, Tenten wasn't even sure she was breathing. Then slowly, very slowly, both of her hands lifted to cover her mouth, and she whimpered, clearly on the verge of going into hysterics.

 _Oh no, you don't!_ Tenten immediately closed the distance between them. Circling the younger woman's shoulders bracingly with one arm, she firmly turned her away from the bed, talking low and fast, almost fiercely coaxing her away from a complete breakdown. She couldn't - _could not!_ \- allow it, not if there was the remotest chance Neji might be aware of it on some level.

She was just reaching to pull back the curtain at the doorway, when the glass panel opened to admit Hinata. Tenten saw her take in the situation in one sharp glance, even as she said calmly, "Naruto and Minato came. They brought a lot of food, plus some tea and coffee. Why don't the two of you go out and get something to eat?" She gently touched her younger sister's shoulder, rubbing for a moment before carefully helping to guide her toward the door.

Tenten shot Hinata a clear look of gratitude over Hanabi's head. "Hinata's right," she prompted. "We _should_ eat something. We need to keep our strength up, or we won't be any good to Neji at all."

The owners of The Yellow Flash were gone by the time Tenten and Hanabi reached the waiting room. Tenten felt both relieved and saddened by their absence; she would have liked to thank them, but the thought of receiving more platitudes and trying to carry any sort of conversation made her want to curl up in the corner for the rest of the week.

Konohamaru took charge of Hanabi, getting her settled quickly with a cup of tea, a cinnamon roll the size of Manhattan, and an arm around her shoulders. Sasuke smiled at Tenten with a kind of shy awkwardness and offered her a big cup of tea, a chocolate-smothered, custard-filled extra-large Long John (which was Kushina's signature breakfast food), and a seat by herself in the corner of the room.

Grateful for his thoughtfulness, Tenten savored the tea a sip at a time, allowing the caffeine to seep into her very pores and begin to reinvigorate her. The chocolate on the donut helped, too, its comfort-food status holding up its end of the bargain and soothing her jangled nerves. She felt some of the tension leave her shoulders as her belly filled, not realizing how hungry she'd actually been. As she wiped her chocolate-sticky fingers on a napkin, Tenten thought she must have more color in her face now, and hoped she didn't look as ghostly as she had when she'd glimpsed herself in the bathroom mirror when she and Hanabi had dropped by the women's room to wash their hands before eating.

She was just considering getting up and going back to Neji's room when Hanabi suddenly stood up, sloshing the rest of her tea over the edge of her cup. "It's not fair!" she cried, her voice sounding abnormally loud in the otherwise quiet room.

Konohamaru got to his feet, too, looking like he thought if he tried to touch his girlfriend he might find himself missing a rather important limb. "Hanabi?" he queried softly.

Hanabi turned on him, her bloodshot sclera looking even more frightening next to the pale color of her irises. "Neji never did anything to anybody! Why does it have to be him in there, looking like - like - like that?" She drew in a ragged breath and shook her head, arms going around herself protectively. She looked small and frightened, and right back on the jagged edge of losing it completely. "I want to find the man who did that to him and make him pay!" Her volume rose until the last word ended on a screech.

Tenten hurried over, taking a cue from Konohamaru and staying back since Hanabi looked like she was ready to lash out at anyone who came too close. "Hanabi," she said soothingly, "I understand how you feel. _Believe_ me, I do. But flying off the handle isn't going to help matters any. It's not going to help Neji, and it's not going to make you feel any better."

Curling her hands into her hair, Hanabi glared at her cousin-in-law. "You think you're so in control, huh? You've been sitting here all night, just sitting there! You never cried, you never railed against the injustice of all this, you never made any sign that any of this bothers you! Do you even love Neji, huh?"

The words hit like a smack across Tenten's face as, next to her, Konohamaru staggered back a step and half-gasped, half-choked, " _Hanabi_!" He sounded completely scandalized.

Even though Tenten wanted nothing more than to snap back - to scream, to cry, to do everything Hanabi had accused her of not doing (even though she'd been doing it all night long, just inside where no one else could see) - she forced herself to remain calm. Hanabi didn't really mean it, she told herself. Everything had just finally caught up with her, and she was lashing out randomly.

"I'm sorry I made you think that, Hanabi," Tenten said gently. She didn't take a step toward Hanabi, or away. She simply raised her hands to the side in a gesture of peace and tilted her head. "I know you're angry. Whether I show it or not, I am, too. But yes, I do love Neji - very much. I wish this hadn't happened, but it has. There is nothing we can do to change it. But we can be here for him, and for each other. We all love him, and the best thing we can do right now is keep our heads and keep supporting him. Let him know we're there, that we love him, that we're waiting for him to come back to us."

For a long, tense few moments, Hanabi looked like she hadn't even heard Tenten. But then her face crumpled from anger to grief, and she threw herself into her cousin-in-law's arms. She was crying so hard her words were incomprehensible, but Tenten thought she got the gist of the garbled apology.

Stroking the girl's hair, she looked to Konohamaru over Hanabi's head. "I hate to ask this after everything else," she began. But before she could finish, the young man held up his hand and shook his head.

"It's all right," he said. "I'll take her home and stay with her, make sure she gets some sleep. I'll bring her back to the hospital when she's ready."

Tenten nodded. "Thank you." Pulling away from Hanabi slightly, she cupped the girl's red, tear-streaked face in her hands. "Konohamaru's going to take you home, okay, sweetheart? He'll stay with you while you sleep, so he'll be right there if you need someone. You won't be alone."

Hanabi nodded and wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. "Okay," she murmured. Sniffing, she looked up at Tenten and whispered, "Are you angry with me? I didn't - I didn't mean it, you know. What I said about you n-not loving Neji."

"I know." Tenten hugged Hanabi again, then gently handed her over to her boyfriend's comforting embrace. "Just go home and get some sleep. I'll stay here with Neji, and then when you feel you're ready, you can come back and sit with him for a while, okay? If you want, I'll stay with you, or Hinata will, or whoever else is here."

"Okay." After squeezing Tenten's hand, Hanabi allowed Konohamaru to lead her away.

Only once they were gone did Tenten remember there was one other person in the waiting room. Turning, she found Sasuke standing a few paces away from where the trio had been, looking tense and unsettled. He met her look briefly, before glancing away uncomfortably.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I don't much care for confrontations. And I didn't want to make it worse. Figured staying out of the way was better than starting World War III in the waiting room."

Tenten managed a short, breathless laugh at his small attempt at a joke. "It's fine," she assured him. "You did the best thing." Sighing, she rubbed the tense knot at the base of her neck and glanced toward the ICU doors. "I'll go get Hinata and send her out."

Sasuke nodded. "And I'll take her home and make sure she gets some rest." He sounded nothing but confident this time.

"Thanks." Tenten hoped he knew she meant the word for more than just taking Hinata home. She wished she could hug him, but she knew from his tense, closed off posture he wouldn't welcome the attention. So she merely smiled at him and went back into the ICU to get Hinata.

She was glad her gentle cousin-in-law had missed the melodrama with her sister. Hinata and Hanabi were both going to go home and get some sleep, but Tenten still had a long day ahead of her.

She'd best not waste a moment of it.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ Oh, Hanabi. I was both looking forward to and dreading writing her meltdown, because its mention in _Entanglements_ kind of woke up my brain and made me start thinking about what her meltdown would look like, so it was nice to be able to channel that creativity into an actual written, posted scene. But at the same time - my gosh, poor Tenten. But also, poor Hanabi. Poor _everyone_ in this chapter, really. Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoy, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!


	15. Beat

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Sachiko Heiwajima_ and _rao hyuga 18_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and follows lists.

 **Author's Note:** I love this chapter. I really do. I hope you do, too. Thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XV~***

 _~Beat~_

* * *

The single good - and bad - thing about a small town is the fact that news traveled fast. This meant that Tenten actually had to contact very few people after Neji was shot; on the down side, this also meant several people (practically everyone in town, as a matter of fact) heard the news from someone besides her.

Thankfully, Neji and Tenten were friends with some very understanding people.

Gai and Lee showed up not long after Hinata and Sasuke left. After receiving rib-crushing hugs from both of them as they first entered the room, she was inundated by their tearful encouragement to stay strong. Despite the theatrics, she knew her boss and his son were entirely sincere in their shock and grief, and that they meant every word when they told her to call if she needed absolutely anything - even if it was just a hug at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Those two were goofs, Tenten though fondly when they finally left, but she loved them anyway. She couldn't ask for two better people to have on her and Neji's side.

More people trickled in over the course of the day, often in ones or twos. Shikamaru and Ino; Shino on his way home from his teaching job; Kiba (who was very sad he wasn't allowed to bring Akamaru in, too); Chouji, who used his break from being an assistant cook at The Yellow Flash to visit; Sai, who was on his way to the airport for yet another buying trip (and who, to Tenten's surprise, left her with an awkward hug and a surprisingly genuine request to call him with any news, no matter the hour). Naruto returned to the hospital during the restaurant's slump hours in the afternoon, his usually cheerful face somber as he gave Tenten a hug and stared mournfully at his friend's unconscious face.

Through it all, Sakura came in every couple of hours when she could slip away from her own ward. The pink-haired woman, in her cheerfully colored scrubs decorated liberally with blue and yellow teddy bears, was refreshingly honest in all her interactions. She was neither overly optimistic to the point of outright falsehood; neither was she the picture of grim doom and gloom. She maintained a grounded air every time she entered the room, though her apple green eyes did flicker with sorrow often.

Tenten couldn't help but notice, however, who was most conspicuous in his absence. Hiashi never once made an appearance, even though she sent him periodic text updates through the day. She would get monosyllabic replies, and though Tenten had never _really_ expected him to show his face, she had at least hoped he would call. It would prove he wasn't completely uncaring about his nephew's fate, anyway.

The moment Hinata stepped into the room several hours later, Tenten felt exhaustion swamp her. She greeted her cousin-in-law, gave her what few updates there were (as well as a rundown of who had come over the course of the day), then very carefully kissed Neji's forehead and promised him she'd be back really soon. After wrangling a promise out of Hinata to call the _moment_ anything changed (good or bad, in case it _did_ ), she called Kiba, who had asked her earlier to call him so he could give her a ride home.

After being walked to her door (Kiba always took his job as a police protector very seriously, even in a town where there was very little crime - the worst of which usually amounted to speeding tickets and jaywalking), Tenten tested the doorknob and found it unlocked.

Stepping inside, she softly called out Konohamaru and Hanabi's names as she slid off her sandals and hung her purse on the hook next to the front door. Just as she headed for the family room, Konohamaru appeared in its doorway, his hair even more mussed than usual, feet bare, one hand over his mouth as he yawned.

"Hi, Tenten," he greeted in a soft voice. "Hanabi's upstairs, asleep. I've checked in on her a couple of times, and she is dead to the world. How's Neji?"

Tenten gave her cousin-in-law's boyfriend a quick one-armed hug, then headed for the kitchen for some caffeine and pain pills for her headache. Taking her cue from him and keeping her voice low, she replied, "About the same. Hinata's sitting with him now, and she made me promise not to come back until around eight, unless something changes." Pulling two red-capped bottles of soft drinks from the fridge, she offered one to Konohamaru before opening her own and taking a swig as she reached for the bottle of Excedrin on the counter under one of the wall cabinets, next to vitamins and other various over-the-counter medicines.

While she did that, Konohamaru quietly went about making them both sandwiches. "Sorry it's nothing fancy," he apologized as they sat down at the kitchen's center island to eat. "This is about the extent of my cooking abilities, unless you like microwave dinners. Aunt Kurenai does all the cooking at home."

"This is fine, Konohamaru. Thank you." She bit into the turkey, lettuce, and mayo sandwich, deciding just about anything would have tasted good at that point. Taking her pills, she queried, "How'd Hanabi do once you got her here?"

The young musician shrugged and poked a slipping piece of lettuce back inside his sandwich before it could fall to his plate. "She was so tired, really, that she just handed me a pillow and blanket and then went straight upstairs to crash. I've been sleeping on your couch - sorry, I'll clean up the blankets and stuff before I leave, promise - but set my alarm for every forty-five minutes or so to check on her. I was just getting ready to do so again before you got here."

"I'll check on her when I go upstairs after we eat." Tenten took another bite of her sandwich; after swallowing, she held the rest of it up and smiled. "This is _good_. Thanks again."

Konohamaru blushed, shrugged, and changed the subject. "Do you need a ride to the hospital tonight? If you don't mind a motorcycle, I can take you."

"Thank you, but I'm okay to drive tonight." Though she still felt tense, she wasn't as shaky and panicky as she'd been last night. After a shower and nap, Tenten felt sure she would be able to handle driving the reasonably short distance to the hospital.

They finished their impromptu meal in silence, then Konohamaru offered to clean up while Tenten went upstairs. Taking her drink with her, Tenten peeked into the guest room, where Hanabi still slept, curled up in a little ball under her blankets as she hugged a soft blue throw pillow to her chest before going on to her own.

Avoiding the bed, at least for the moment, Tenten indulged in a long, hot shower. She checked her phone - no messages (good or bad? She wasn't sure) - before drying her hair. After slipping into a pair of gauchos and a pink top, she crept over to the bed and slid under the covers.

Neji's scent hit her in the face even harder than she thought it would. Squeezing her eyes shut, Tenten smothered her tears against her own pillow as she reached out to rest her hand on her husband's. The silk felt cool against her hand, having not had a head resting upon it for almost thirty-six hours. Letting out a ragged breath, Tenten kept her left hand where it was as she wound her right one into the sheets.

Then she finally allowed herself to relax enough to fall asleep.

* * *

Tenten's nighttime vigil seemed even longer than the daytime one had. Hanabi had come with her at eight, but finally left around midnight. She'd driven her own car so she'd have the freedom to come and go as needed; after she left, Tenten felt loneliness start to set in.

Though uncomfortable, Tenten was grateful for the reclining chair that had been brought in for her. One of the night nurses brought her a pillow and blanket, and urged her to get some sleep, though it was hard to do when nurses kept coming in every now and then to check Neji's vitals; adjust something on one of them; draw some blood; or do one of a hundred other things that blurred together after a while.

Eventually she lost track of time, drifting in and out of shallow sleep between nurse's visits. Occasionally she would jolt awake, her brown eyes darting straight to Neji's face, then up to the heart monitor. The reassuring movement of the green lines helped her relax again, and she felt grateful someone had turned the beeping sound off earlier in the day.

In the darkest watches of the night, Tenten fought against the hopelessness threatening to swamp her. She woke from unsettled dreams of Neji going into cardiac arrest; of being taken back into surgery; and, worst of all, being lowered into the ground as rain poured down from overhead.

To offset them, she forced herself to concentrate on hope, on the knowledge that the longer Neji's condition remained stable, the better his odds of surviving. It had now been over 24 hours since the shooting, and over 16 since his surgery.

It helped considerably when the night-shift doctor came in and exchanged the breathing tube down Neji's throat for nose prongs. It meant he was breathing much better on his own, which was definitely a step in the right direction.

A couple of times Tenten left the cramp-inducing chair to stand next to Neji's bed. She took his hand in hers, careful not to jar the needle taped to the back of it, and used her free one to stroke his hair again. Sometimes she'd murmur to him, sharing some of her favorite memories in an attempt to lure him back to her; others she would hum softly - her favorite songs, his, whatever came to mind at the time.

One time a nurse came in, saw Tenten standing up, and helped drag the recliner around the bed to the side with less equipment, close enough where she could still hold his hand (this time, the one _without_ the needle) while she slept. Once Tenten had the cool but reassuring weight of Neji's hand in hers, she was able to fall into a deeper, more restful sleep.

She woke when sunshine began to filter in through the blinds over the window across the room. Yawning, she worked her free hand out from beneath her blankets, pushing at loose strands of hair which had come free from her ponytail during the night. Tenten blinked blearily against the light, and rolled her head to try to ease the crick in her neck.

"...Mhmph."

Tenten froze at the sound, foreign in the mostly silent room. Hardly daring to let herself hope, she turned her head away from the window, twisting in her chair so she could look at Neji's face.

Then she blinked once, twice, just to make sure she was awake.

Neji's eyes were slits in his still too-white face, but they were marginally open. He looked back at her somewhat fuzzily, as if he weren't entirely aware of his surroundings. For a moment Tenten wasn't even sure he saw her; then his pale, chapped lips curled up in the merest hint of a smile, and his eyes brightened a bit beneath their heavy lids.

"Ten," he whispered.

Tears filled her eyes and rushed down her face. "Neji!" Between one heartbeat and the next she flew to her feet, fighting to keep from throwing herself onto the bed to hug him. "Neji!" Instead she grabbed up his hand, and held it against her face. "You're going to be okay, you're going to be fine..." She said it more to herself than him.

His fingers moved a little within her grip, their backs brushing her skin. "Wasn't - sure - I'd see - you again." Neji curled his fingers around hers, his eyes never leaving her face. "Love you."

"I love you too." Tenten pressed his hand a little closer to her face, noticing how much warmer it felt even since last night.

He whispered something else, but she missed it. His eyes were clearly starting to close again, but he moved his head a little in a gesture for her to come closer.

As Tenten leaned in, he breathed, "Knew -y'were -here. Heard you ... felt you... Held onto - that." Her breath caught in her throat as he added a lyric from his favorite song, the same one they danced to at their wedding: "Solo tu, mio cuore - only you, my heart," he whispered.

Even as the combination of exhaustion and morphine pulled Neji back to sleep, Tenten smiled through her happy tears and knew, _knew_ , that her husband was going to be okay.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ There's only 5 more chapters in this story, so we're almost to the end (so sad!). This is one of my favorite chapters in the whole thing, and I hope you all loved it, too. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!


	16. Breathe

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _rao hyuga 18_ , _Guest (1)_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _Guest (2)_ , _Falainakorna_ , and _Ami1010_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** I like this chapter, especially after all the emotional tension in the last few. Hope you all do, too!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XVI~***

 _~Breathe~_

* * *

Neji came home from the hospital a little more than a week after the incident.

For Tenten, this was both a good thing and _not_ a good thing. Although beyond glad her husband was still alive and doing well enough to leave the hospital, at the same time she knew, now he was home, he would be anxious to get his independence back. Even before his release he'd chafed at the idea of needing help to do certain things. Never the kind of person to sit still for long periods of time (save for bird watching), his forced confinement and heavily reduced list of things to do just about drove him crazy after only three days at home.

As a result, Tenten wasn't sure who would crack first: him or her.

It took only a week for things to stretch to the breaking point.

After his first _full_ weekend at home, Neji insisted Tenten go back to work. Hanabi agreed to come stay at the house while her cousin-in-law was at work, though Tenten had a sneaking suspicion Neji only favored of the idea because he figured he could probably talk her into letting him do things more easily than he could anyone else, especially Tenten.

When Monday morning came Neji practically pushed her out the door. The only reason he didn't, Tenten was sure, was because it would have taken both hands since she was dragging her heels, and he wasn't allowed to do anything with his left arm yet.

So at nine o'clock that morning, Tenten found herself standing behind the counter at the antique store. He'd adamantly insisted she only call to check on him during her lunch break. So all the clocks in the place made her obsessively want to watch until they ticked over to noon, and she could call to see how things were going. It took an extreme exertion of will to keep herself from looking at a single one of them, despite their infernal, taunting ticking.

Gai came sweeping into the store ten minutes later, surprisingly late for perhaps the third time in the course of their acquaintance. He looked at her with unnaturally wide eyes (which made him look even _more_ like his son), his wild eyebrows crunched low over them.

"You're here," he said in surprise.

"So it would seem," Tenten agreed dryly.

"You opened the shop," Gai added in awe.

"It _is_ why you gave me a key, Boss." Tenten released a sorely-needed smile.

"Hm, I guess so." Gai finally got moving, coming behind the counter to put his things in the combined breakroom/kitchen through a door on the back wall. When he came back, he blinked at her and said, "You're still here."

"Yes, I am." Perhaps she should have called Gai yesterday and let him know she planned to come in, but right up to the time she left home Tenten still hoped to talk Neji out of his plan to "get her out of the house so she wouldn't go crazy" taking care of him.

"I thought I might be hallucinating." Gai, who appeared to have had extra caffeine injected in his coffee that morning, zipped across the store to the Baroque section and started rearranging things. Tenten was never sure how he managed to move at warp speed and never break anything, but somehow he did it every single time. "Neji must be much improved then?"

Sighing, Tenten slumped against the counter next to the cash register, wishing she had even half of her boss's energy. "He's better than he was when he first woke up in the hospital, that's for sure. If it weren't for that huge incision they had to make to piece his sternum back together, he'd be feeling much better. Even at that, he wants to get up and _do_ things again, even if he's nowhere near ready to go back to work."

Gai nodded as if Neji's feelings made complete sense. "I would definitely go crazy in his place if I was forced to mostly sit and not do much of anything," he agreed.

Since Gai made Neji look downright catatonic on a normal day, Tenten could believe it. But Neji, though not the kind of person who had to fit _everything_ that needed to be done in a day, did tend a bit toward the go-getter side. Not being allowed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk (with his right hand) or sit in his chair or the couch (since there was still some concern about his heart, and he was temporarily on meds to regulate his heart beat for a while) set his teeth on edge. Which made him testy. Which made Tenten testy. Which made their house just a little miserable for them and anyone else who happened to come by for a visit.

"He and I were about to drive each other a little crazy," Tenten admitted. "He wants to be up doing things, and I'm trying to be the voice of reason, though he knows he's not supposed to do certain things, and he can only stand to read medical journals for so long, y'know? I hate seeing him so frustrated and bored, but it can't be helped. And he told me yesterday that _one_ of us needed to get out of the house, so he told me to come in to work today and practically pushed me out the door this morning." As much as she hated to admit it, it _did_ feel a little good to be back at work. And Neji wasn't in any more danger, medically speaking, so it was safe to leave him at home, especially with Hanabi there.

Gai paused in the middle of moving a table from its spot next to the window to a place beneath a spotlight. Giving her a thoughtful look, he commented, "I know this has been hard on both of you. But he's right: your getting out of the house will be good for both of you. Though he wants his independence back, and he wants it _now_ , he's got a level head on his shoulders. He won't do anything you or his doctors would disapprove of. He _is_ a physician himself, you know, and he knows the 'do's and 'don't's of post-surgery behavior, not to mention his own limits." Smiling, he winked at her and added, "And if nothing else, think about this: absence makes the heart grow fonder. The two of you are going to be so happy to see each other tonight, it'll have made the hours of separation you're suffering now all the more worth it. It's the springtime of youth, my dear flower, and the two of you are still in the honeymoon stage. It'll all be fine, you'll see."

For a man who had never been married, Gai was surprisingly knowledgeable about these sorts of things. Despite the ridiculous challenges he and his son set for each other; despite his sometimes hairbrained ideas and theories; despite his somewhat - ahem - _unique_ approach to life, his moments of insightful wisdom always made her realize a normal guy hid somewhere beneath that bowl haircut, those fuzzy eyebrows, and the nauseating amount of green spandex he (and his adopted son) seemed to favor wearing.

For the first time in a long while, Tenten finally felt herself relax.

* * *

At first Neji thought the nightmares would be the worst part of his recovery. He'd only woken with a shout once, which of course had brought Tenten running. The rest of the time he'd only had to deal with being out of breath, covered in a cold sweat, and feeling shaky.

But what Neji had only realized intellectually until after he came home was the reality of how limited his activities would be. Though he wasn't the kind who liked to be in a perpetual state of motion, always having to do something between the time the sun came up to the time it went down (he saved that for his job), he _did_ like to be reasonably active.

And being active was severely frowned upon at this point in his recovery, especially since he still has a slightly irregular heartbeat despite the medication he was on. Neji suspected that might be because he was doing things _slightly_ more strenuous than recommended (but a walk a short distance along the sidewalk had seemed nice, especially considering the day was comfortably temperate instead of blazing hot or freezing cold, and he took it slowly), but he knew his own limits and vowed not to go beyond them.

At least not _too_ far beyond them.

After all, he needed to get back to the hospital. Neji knew the sooner he went back and faced his demons, the sooner he got back to work and his normal routine, the better. Then he could put this entire incident behind him, go back to his emergency room work, and ignore the bullet scars while he pretended this whole thing was nothing more than a hiccup in his life, or maybe even a really bad dream.

Hanabi seemed content to sit on the couch and work on her computer - with several glances at him to make sure he was "behaving" healthily interspersed - which left Neji more to his own devices than in the preceding almost two weeks. His younger cousin had put on a movie, something filled with action "to hold your attention," she had said with a warning smile, but he found his attention often straying either to the clock or the door.

He knew Tenten had needed to get out of the house. She'd stayed with him 24/7 since he got out of the hospital, and the only time they'd left the house was to go to a welcome home get-together at Hinata and Hanabi's condo. Other than that, they'd both stayed to the house. He knew he was being a bad patient and driving her crazy. So he'd urged her to go back to work, hoping the routine would help as he coerced her into it.

The fact she had done it even though Gai was a very understanding boss and had told her she could have time off however long she needed spoke volumes about how much Neji was right and she _did_ need to get out for a while.

But, Neji guiltily admitted to himself, he somewhat feared depending too much on Tenten. She was a very loving and caring person with a generous heart, especially toward him. She'd worked tirelessly ever since he'd been home to make sure he was comfortable, that he always had something to drink if he was thirsty, eat if he was hungry, or put over him if he got too cool from sitting inactive in the air conditioned house. Though he'd started to feel a little smothered the past few days, he also began to worry how much he depended on her rock-solid presence and willingness to be there for him.

This was _his_ problem, _his_ injury. Neji needed to overcome it himself. Relying on his wife too much, leaning on her too often, would only make it worse. He was strong, and from here on out he determined to do his recovering on his own.

Hanabi drew him from his thoughts by lifting her laptop and turning it around so he could see the screen. "What do you think of this?" she asked him.

Neji eyed the picture on screen, of a smiling bride dressed in a white gown with a long train - and no fabric from the knees down in the front of the gown. _Ugh_. "You are _not_ wearing that dress for your wedding," he said, perhaps a bit too severely.

Instead of looking insulted, Hanabi grinned at him. "I thought you'd say that." She turned her computer back around, fiddled with it for a second, then flipped it back toward him. "What about this one?"

It at least had enough fabric, to Neji's (admittedly slightly antiquated, at least according to some) way of thinking. "You're planning a spring wedding," he said, halfway as a question. At her nod, he added, "That dress is sleeveless, and you're wanting an outdoor wedding. What if the weather's on the cool side?"

"I thought of that. I can get this cute little white bolero to go with the dress, so if it _is_ cool on the day of the wedding, I'll be wearing three-quarter sleeves, so I should be fine. If it's too cold, we'll move it indoors, but I'm planning it so late in the spring - practically in the summer! - the temps should be fine." Turning her computer back to herself, Hanabi set it down on the couch and made a face. "I wanted to walk barefoot down the aisle of grass, but Hinata nixed it right away. 'Chiggers, Hanabi! Chiggers!' she said to me." After doing a rather impressive impression of her sister, Hanabi rolled her eyes and snorted. "While she has a point, it kind of ruined the whole image I had in my head. And it kind of defeated the point of my having a spring wedding."

"Chiggers burrow their way under your skin," Neji told his cousin. "Hinata's right. And do you really want to spend your-" he cringed to think of it, especially in regards to Hanabi, but he was committed now "-wedding night itching because those little buggers latched onto you as a handy buffet?"

Hanabi glared at him, but only with half of its usual power. "I know, I know," she sighed. "Hinata said that, too. Boo, you're both such party poopers, you know. Why are you so practical all the time, Neji?"

Neji knew not to take Hanabi's comment personally. "Spending my formative years growing up in a house with Uncle Hiashi taught me to be practical," he said honestly. "I had to be if I was going to get anything out of life, let alone what I wanted."

Nodding, Hanabi silently agreed with that assessment. Then she asked quietly, out of nowhere, "Will you walk me down the aisle?"

Blinking in surprise, Neji looked closely at his younger cousin. "What?"

Looking up at him from beneath her lashes, Hanabi offered a half-smile. "I know, that's usually reserved for when the father of the bride is dead. But you know Father won't want to do it, because he doesn't approve of where I decided to go to college, why, and who I'm marrying. And even if he _did_ , I'd still want you to do it. You're like my big brother, and to be honest, you've really been more of a dad to me than my own." She tilted her head and widened her smile, making it look a little more authentic. "You're at least _some_ fun, anyway."

Neji smothered the sudden uncharacteristic urge to roll his eyes at her. "Thank you for that assessment." After allowing a moment to pass, he became solemn and looked directly at his cousin with a slow, firm nod. "And I would be honored to walk you down the aisle, little sister."

Hanabi smiled at him, and Neji decided it would be best not to mention the fact that her older sister had already beaten her to the request. Hinata had asked him to do the same exact thing for her just a few days before during a visit, when she let him and Tenten know her and Sasuke's wedding was planned for the middle of Hanabi's spring break, so her sister could attend her at the wedding.

He wondered if Hinata had told Hanabi yet, and decided he'd rather not know. "Thank you for asking me to do that. I really am honored, you know."

Meeting his eyes, Hanabi said with a raw honesty he'd not seen from her in a long while, "I'm honored to have _you_ as my cousin, Neji."

Perhaps, Neji mused silently to himself as Hanabi went back to her wedding planning, he _could_ accept a _little_ bit of help from others, his wife and cousins included, to help him through this recovery phase.

But only just a little.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ This chapter was a relief, in a way, because the emotional intensity wasn't sky-high like the last few. This is a bit of a transitional chapter, leading into the final arc for the last four chapters - which I'm really looking forward to sharing! Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!


	17. Relapse

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Ami1010_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , and _rao hyuga 18_ for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** Another slight time skip here, but I really do like this chapter. Especially the second scene. I hope you all do, as well! Thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~ Chapter XVII~***

 _~Relapse~_

* * *

Going back to work possessed overtones of been there, done that for Neji as he remembered his first day back after losing that little leaguer. Walking back into the emergency room made him feel like he was stuck in quicksand - his feet didn't want to carry him forward, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't just turn around and walk out.

He wasn't going to be a coward about this, anymore than he'd allowed himself to be a coward about the other.

Like before when he entered his workplace, he felt his coworkers watching him, partially out of curiosity, but mostly with silent support. They all instinctively knew and understood he needed to do this on his own; but he appreciated their presence and the strength they offered nonetheless.

For the most part, the ER looked much the same as it had the night he'd been shot. The beds and curtains were all in their same places; the equipment was right where it needed to be; the shattered computer screen had long since been replaced with a brand-new one.

The smell of antiseptic stung his nose, and Neji forced himself to breathe it in. It evoked memories of his internship, of his days as a doctor fresh out of med school with his certification in hand and a burning need to save the world. The former had held true, but the latter had eased into a steady desire to do what he could when he could. It was what had ultimately led him to the job in the ER instead of in the pediatric ward, which had been his alternate choice.

Taking another deep breath, Neji stepped out of the doorway and fully into the ER. It was in one of its rare quiet moments, with a patient just having been wheeled away and none coming in. All eyes were on him as he took five steps into the room and paused next to the second bed, slowly turning his head to take in the familiar sights as he simultaneously fought down the urge to panic.

Smiles broke out on all the faces around him, and quiet applause met his ears. Neji felt the tension in his shoulders ease, the panic settle, and the trembling in his hands give way to steadiness. All around him he saw his friends, coworkers, fellow warriors in the battle against illness and injury, welcoming him back with open arms.

As Neji shook hands and greeted his coworkers, he mused about his time off. Two months he had been away from these familiar sights and people, far longer than he'd intended. But his doctor had insisted Neji be fully healed before coming back, and it had taken longer than expected for his irregular heartbeat to return to normal.

Now he was back at the top of his game, in good health, and ready to go back to work.

As cases began trickling in, Neji noticed his fellow doctors sent him the easier ones. He treated a twenty-something woman's nosebleed; fitted a brace for a sixteen-year-old football player's sprained wrist; put five stitches in a construction worker's leg; and gently fished (of all things) a _marble_ out of the nose of a three-year-old.

All in all, it was a relatively easy first day back to work. And since he had only one more day to work before Halloween, which he had deliberately taken off, his first day back at work seemed like a complete cinch.

Until he clocked out, told his fellow doctors and the nurses to have a good evening, went out to his car...

...And had a panic attack.

Neji had absolutely no idea why he was having an attack. But since his elevated heart rate, unsteady breathing, cold sweat, and trembling were definite signs of one, there could be no denying it.

Clenching his fingers around the steering wheel of his car, Neji forced himself to breathe in and out steadily, on the count of ten. Closing his eyes, he tried to center himself by using some of the meditation techniques he'd learned during his martial arts days. He forced every thought of panic and distress from his mind, instead focusing only on his breathing and heart rate, trying to calm them to a more normal rhythm.

Then he turned his attention to his trembling, at last unclenching his aching hands from around the wheel to wipe the sweat off his face. At least, Neji noted, he _had_ stopped shaking, even if he still felt a little unsettled.

After he was sure he wouldn't relapse, Neji started his car and left his reserved spot in the hospital's parking lot. Taking a longer route home, he thought back over his day, examining each moment time after time in an effort to find what had triggered his panic attack. He hadn't had one since about a month after the incident, when he'd woken from a nightmare which had felt so real he thought he'd been back in the emergency room reliving it all over again.

He thought he'd gotten himself under control. He'd had two months, for goodness sake! Why had he freaked out like that? It didn't make sense. And why wait until _after_ work, rather than as soon as he walked into the room, which would have made more sense? Or even when treating one of his patients, though none of them had had particularly severe injuries.

Neji shook his head as he parked his car next to Tenten's in their driveway. Regardless of what had triggered it, it was gone now. He'd just pretend it never happened, go into work tomorrow and face everything like it was a normal day. And then, when he left, he would make one-hundred percent sure he was nice and calm when he climbed into his car.

The heavenly smell of apple cider beef stew met his nose the moment he stepped through the door between the garage and the family room. Slipping off his jacket and shoes in one smooth, well-practiced move, Neji inhaled deeply as he headed deeper into the house. "Tenten?" he called.

She met him in the doorway to the kitchen, a smile on her face. "Welcome home!" A slight, startled laugh escaped her as Neji pulled her to himself and kissed her thoroughly. Tenten looked up at him with hazy eyes when he let her go, sounding a bit breathless as she asked, "Your day that was great, huh?"

"Yes, it was," Neji replied agreeably as he headed to the stove to lift the lid on the stew. And it wasn't a _total_ lie, since his _day_ (implying from the beginning of his shift to the end of it) had gone very well. He just didn't let on that the post-work period had been a little rocky. "And yours?"

Tenten snatched the spoon out of his hand before he could steal a bite. "Very well." After regaining control of the lid, she stirred the stew before firmly settling it back atop the pot. "Cornbread's in the oven and should be ready in about fifteen minutes, if you want to take a quick shower."

It probably wasn't a bad idea, all things considered. A shower would help get rid of the usual antiseptic smell he came home with, even after a quick mandatory sterilizing shower in the hospital locker room, not to mention get rid of any lingering effects of his panic attack. "It all smells great. I'll hurry, because I don't want to have to wait any longer than necessary to get a bite of that." He planted a teasing kiss on her neck, adding a double meaning to his words, savoring her laughter chasing him up the stairs to the bathroom.

And if it helped push the memory of his panic attack to the darkest corner of his mind, all the better.

* * *

Tenten readjusted her twin buns atop her head, aligning them with the panda ears on the headband she wore. Her black and white costume nearly swallowed her petite form, but she'd laughed when Gai and Lee presented her with the outfit for Halloween.

"It's your and Neji's first in your new house," her boss had told her with his trademark pinging grin and thumbs up. "You have to do the trick-or-treat thing, and to do it right, you have to answer the door in costume!"

Shaking her head at her boss's enthusiasm (and love of Halloween and any other opportunity to wear a costume, which usually included an afro-style wig and mustache as bushy as his eyebrows), Tenten tweaked the headband then headed downstairs.

Neji had already settled on the couch, the big bowl of candy on the cushion next to him. Since he wasn't overly fond of sweets, she knew it was safe sitting there - at least, safe from him. Tenten, who had a ravenous sweet tooth, on the other hand, would probably indulge a few too many times over the evening, but they'd bought plenty of candy, so she felt no guilt over the matter.

"You look good," Tenten told him, surprised at her ability to keep a straight face.

The costume had been his coworkers' idea. They'd surprised him at the end of the workday yesterday with a costume decked out with full cowboy regalia, complete with spurs, lasso, chaps, hat, and kerchief. He looked like a Texan straight down to the boots on his feet, which had the benefit of looking well-worn while maintaining the ubiquitous stiffness of brand-new footwear.

Neji glowered at her from beneath the brim of his hat, which looked like something straight out of a spaghetti western. "So help me, if you make me say 'howdy, pardner,' even once this evening, I will make _you_ sleep on the couch tonight."

Tenten laughed, knowing he wasn't in the least serious (about the sleeping on the couch part, anyway). "Well, you've already said it once, and I didn't make you. So any other times you say it this evening should be a cinch, right?"

Muttering under his breath, Neji switched his glare to the television, where _It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!_ was just getting started. The two had watched the classic cartoon, followed by the low-budget but fun movie _Van Helsing_ every Halloween night since they'd first started dating. It was a goofy tradition, but one they truly enjoyed (Tenten perhaps a little bit more than Neji, but she caught him smiling several times).

The World War I flying ace had just taken to the skies to fight the Red Baron when the doorbell rang for their first trick or treater. Tenten bounced off the couch with the candy bowl while Neji paused their show, trailing along after her with his hand clenching his lasso as if he were considering throwing it out the window instead of around a cow.

Tenten opened the door to what appeared to be a six-year-old Stormtrooper and a slightly older witch. "Trick or treat!" they shouted at the top of their lungs, holding up their goody bags.

"Happy Halloween!" Tenten replied, putting a handful of candy in each bag. "Love the costumes." She smiled at the kids' parents, one of whom wore kitty ears and painted-on whiskers, and the other a pair of glasses with a white dress shirt partially unbuttoned to reveal a blue shirt with a big red _S_ emblazoned on it.

"Good costumes, too, Mom and Dad," Tenten congratulated, handing them some candy as well.

"Thank you!" the four chorused, the kids a little louder than the adults, and then they headed off down the driveway back to the sidewalk to the next house.

Neji smiled at her when she closed the door again. "Thanks for not making me say it."

Tenten smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, my love, the night's not over yet."

Over the course of the next hour and a half, they saw everything from princesses to vampires, zombies and wizards, cowboys, Disney characters galore, superheroes from comic books and movies, and even a couple of ninja thrown in (those were Tenten's ultimate favorites).

As time wore on, the number of rings of their doorbell began to diminish. When it was nearly time for trick or treating to be over, Tenten opened the door to find Konohamaru and Hanabi standing outside, dressed as a popular prehistoric classic cartoon couple.

"Trick or treat!" they cried, grinning widely.

Tenten almost dropped the candy bowl she was laughing so hard. Neji rescued it from her tenuous grip and shook his head. "Aren't you two a little old for trick or treating?" he asked. The twitch of the right corner of his lips gave away how hard he was trying not to laugh himself.

"We're on the way to a Halloween party where I work," Konohamaru explained. Sliding his arm around Hanabi's shoulders, he shrugged and added, "When Hanabi mentioned stopping by here to show off our costumes, well, I couldn't resist the idea." He motioned vaguely over his shoulder to some point down the road. "We left my motorcycle parked at the corner so you wouldn't hear it and figure out who we were before we rang the bell."

Hanabi eyed Tenten's costume, then Neji's. "Don't tell me: Gai and Lee, right?"

Looking down at herself, Tenten laughed at how silly she looked, but quietly admitted to herself that the costume _was_ genuinely fun to wear. "My costume was their idea, but Neji's coworkers came up with his."

"There're three doctors who get together and prank someone in the hospital every year," he explained. "Unfortunately, this year it was my turn." He tugged at his kerchief, clearly disgruntled.

"You look like John Wayne," Konohamaru said, looking mildly impressed. "Except your hair's longer, of course."

"As much as I do like the man's movies, that really doesn't make this costume any easier to wear." Neji adjusted his lasso for the hundredth time that evening. "At least no one's made me say 'Howdy, pardner' yet." He realized what he'd said (and that it was the second time that evening the words had passed his lips), then groaned.

Hanabi laughed so hard her wig almost fell off. "Though I can't tell you how silly it sounds to hear you say that, I must say, you've got the accent down cold, big brother."

Neji tilted his head at her and said with complete seriousness, "When I do something, little lady, I aim to do it right."

Tenten, Konohamaru, and Hanabi dissolved into laughter, and as she wrapped her arms around her husband's waist, Tenten saw the small smile curling up the corners of Neji's lips.

Resting her head on his shoulder, Tenten gave thanks for the millionth time that her husband was still alive and standing solidly next to her.

She hoped and prayed for a billion more moments like this in their future.

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ More to come on the subject of the first half of the chapter in the next... And it feels weird posting a Halloween-themed chapter on Thanksgiving (I hope you all had a good one!). I had fun coming up with the costumes, _especially_ Neji's (he was sitting there in my mind glaring at me the _whole_ time I wrote that scene). Sorry for any OOCness there at the end with Neji's line, but I just could not resist. Plus he does strike me as the type who would do something right, even if he was forced into it. And for some reason Konohamaru and Hanabi as the Flinstones just seems _right_. I have no idea why. I also couldn't resist working a family tradition into the chapter - my mum and I watch _It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!_ and _Van Helsing_ on Halloween night, and have for years. It's silly, but very fun. And after all the seriousness in this story, I wanted to something kind of lighthearted, silly, and fun to relax the mood a bit. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, had a great Thanksgiving (I am so thankful for every single one of you!), and I hope to see you again for next week's update! Stay safe if you go out into those crazy Black Friday crowds!


	18. Thankful

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Guest (1)_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , _rao hyuga 18_ , _Guest (2)_ , and _Ami1010_ for your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** Only two more chapters, including the epilogue - I can't believe this! But, thankfully, this is not the last chapter, which is a happy thing, so I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XVIII~***

 _~Thankful~_

* * *

Even on her wedding day, Tenten had never felt like she was caught up in such a mad rush in her life.

On Thanksgiving eve, the first of three days she was given off for that holiday, she attacked her entire house with dustrag, mop, and vacuum. For some reason she still couldn't quite explain, she'd decided to invite the whole family (plus Gai and Lee - what was she _thinking_?) for Thanksgiving dinner. Which meant she would have eight sitting at her table (again) - nine if Hiashi actually got off his high, offended horse and deigned to show. (Tenten wasn't holding her breath, so she counted on having just eight.)

Like one of the twisters which occasionally blew through Missouri, Tenten blew through her house, dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing until everything shone. Then she polished her weapons collection until every single blade shone, every hilt gleamed, every super-sharp edge looked ready to carve the turkey or the guest who stepped out of line, whichever came first.

Once she finished cleaning she barely gave herself a chance to admire the fruits of her labor before she headed to the kitchen. Her fridge overflowed with food, only the cheese tray of which was pre-assembled. (She cheated - she was allowed _one_ considering the amount of company expected, right?)

Having rubbed the turkey with a special blend of herbs, seasonings, and spices the evening before, Tenten hauled it out onto the back deck and put it in the smoker. She'd planned to start it early in the morning, but then thought it might be better if she did it in the afternoon and evening instead. With everything else she had to do, she didn't want to have to keep running outside every hour to baste the stupid thing while trying to clean the house.

With the turkey cooking low and slow, Tenten returned to the kitchen. Once there she whipped up some dough for rolls, then put in the fridge to keep until tomorrow. Afterwards she went about putting together a hash brown casserole, using the recipe she'd gotten from Hinata while still rooming with her. Once she put it in the fridge, she went out to check the temperature on the turkey and baste it the first time.

Back in the kitchen, Tenten went to work on another batch of dough, this for the crusts of the three different kinds of pie she was planning to make. After she finished the dough, she started in on the filling, though she could only do so much since two of them required eggs.

 _You're avoiding._

The words, which had been whispering at the back of her mind all day, sounded loud and clear in Tenten's mind this time. Biting her lip, she slid a glance toward the staircase, knowing she should stop being a coward and just go upstairs and _check_ , for goodness sake.

She took two steps toward the kitchen doorway...

...Spun around and reached for the plastic wrap to put over the pumpkin and apple butter mixture for the first pie. _Later_ , she told herself. _I still need to do a thousand things, plus it's almost time to baste the turkey again._

Twenty minutes actually gave her plenty of time to go upstairs, but Tenten was too embroiled in her avoidance game to give that thought much more consideration.

After basting the turkey again, Tenten re-entered the house and headed back for the kitchen. She'd gotten pretty much all the prep work for the next day done (as much as she could, anyway), but there was always supper tonight.

There seemed to be a siren song calling her from the top of the stairs. Tenten went to get her iPod and accompanying dock, then turned up the music in an attempt to drown it out.

Satisfied that the upbeat, foot-tapping, hip-swinging music would do its job, she got to work making cheesy hamburger casserole, the most complicated recipe she could think of off the top of her head.

Halfway through, she basted the turkey again.

After assembling the casserole, Tenten slipped it into the oven, pleased it would be ready right around the time Neji got home.

Taking her music with her, Tenten went to the family room and sat down on the couch. The moment her head fell back against the cushions, she felt exhaustion swamp her. Even with the beat of the music, the underlying siren's song from upstairs, and the subtle smell of woodsmoke and cooking food permeating the house, her mad rush of the past several hours soon put her straight to sleep.

Which, if she'd had a chance to think about it, was probably the best avoidance tactic she could come up with.

* * *

Neji entered the house to the smell of woodsmoke and cheese, a strange but not unpleasant combination.

Slipping off his coat, he hung it on the hall tree before going to pop his head in the kitchen. Though the room was devoid of Tenten's presence, a quick peek into the oven showed hamburger casserole slowly being blanketed by the huge mound of melted cheese atop it. It was one of Tenten's favorite dishes, which explained why she made it, but made a _ton_ of leftovers, which made the decision seem strange when combined with the fact that the next day would be Thanksgiving, thus overflowing with leftovers of its own.

They only had one fridge, after all, which left very limited shelf space for leftovers, even though he knew she planned to send copious amounts of food home with their guests.

Shrugging, Neji made a note of the ten minutes remaining on the timer and went to find Tenten. Following the sound of swing to the family room, he found her curled up on the couch, arms wrapped snugly around a pillow, the gleaming furniture and weapons surrounding her making it clear she'd been a busy, busy woman while he was gone to work.

"Tenten," he said softly, hoping to wake her. When she didn't even twitch, Neji moved a little closer and touched her shoulder. "Tenten, wake up."

She opened her eyes and stared blearily at him, her brows crunched down over her pert nose. "Ah-huh?"

Smothering his smile, Neji leaned down to kiss the side of her head. "The casserole is almost ready."

"The turkey!" Ignoring what he'd said about dinner, she shot off the couch and ran to the kitchen, returning a moment later with what she needed to baste the bird.

"Here, let me do that." Neji rescued the implements from her, then gently nudged her back in the direction of the kitchen. "Like I said, the casserole's almost ready. The cheese was already starting to bubble when I checked it when I came in."

Tenten hurried off, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, and Neji headed out to the deck. He'd been able to smell the woodsmoke the moment he'd turned onto their street. He inhaled the delicious smell as he basted the turkey, judging from the look of it that this was probably the last time it would have to be done. Though it still had a while to cook, it was closer to done than he'd figured it would be by the time he got home.

His lovely but slightly frazzled wife was just setting the steaming casserole on the table when he returned to the kitchen. "Looks and smells good," he told her.

She smiled at him as he went to the sink to rinse the brush. "Thanks. It just sounded good, so I thought I'd put it together." Frowning down at it, she added, "Though I didn't think about how much would be left over. Hmm."

"We'll find space for it," Neji assured her, holding her chair so she could sit down. Moving around the table to his place across from her, he cut and served the casserole for both of them before taking his seat. "The house looks great, by the way. I don't think this place was so clean when we bought it!"

A hint of pink seeped into Tenten's formerly pale cheeks. "I guess I went a little overboard," she admitted. "I just want Thanksgiving tomorrow to be _perfect_. It's our first in the new house, plus we've got all those people coming." They both tactfully kept from mentioning Neji's uncle, since neither of them expected him or particularly wanted him there (especially since both Hanabi and Hinata were bringing their fiancés).

Neji looked down at the string of cheese he was winding around his fork, unable to hold back his next words even if he'd gagged himself. "I'm having panic attacks at the hospital."

Tenten's head jerked up from where she'd been contemplating her own meal. Staring at him with wide eyes, she asked in a dead monotone, " _What_?"

Sighing, he set down his fork with its uneaten bite. "I shouldn't have kept it from you, I know. But sometimes at the end of my shift, when I get out to the car, I have a panic attack. They're not as bad now as they were at the beginning, but..." He trailed off and sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep it from you, it's just - well - I figured they'd go away eventually. But they haven't. And tomorrow's going to be so busy, and with the thought of having the house full of people, and knowing we're both going to be so stressed, I guess I just wanted to warn you in case I have one tomorrow. I didn't want to spring it on you when - and _if_ \- it happens."

For a moment Tenten sat with her elbows planted firmly on the table, both of her strong, slender hands covering her face. When at last she lifted her head, she nailed him with her snapping eyes and asked in a tightly controlled voice, "You've been back to work for weeks. And you're _just now_ telling me, Neji?" Though almost able to hide the hurt in her voice, he knew her too well not to see it.

He deserved every bit of that hurt and more. "I-" Neji stopped himself before he could blurt out something which was untrue and cliché as it was further hurtful. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair to give himself a chance to _think_ and consider how to say things before he did so. "I know this whole situation was already quite stressful for you. I didn't want to pile any more on you. Plus - and I know how stupid this sounds - I wanted to handle it myself. This is my problem, the way I saw it, and I needed to conquer it myself. If I was going to keep working and pretending nothing had gone wrong and I was fine, I _had_ to defeat this on my own. Otherwise, how could I look at myself in the mirror everyday, knowing I was a total failure?"

Tenten looked across the table at him silently, a swirling mix of anger, sadness, and hurt in her eyes. For a moment she just stared at him, and he wished she would say something - _anything_. She could scream at him, throw something at him, cry or pound the table or do whatever, and he'd sit and take it like the man he proclaimed himself to be.

But she didn't do any of those things. Instead, she silently stood from the table, carefully laid her napkin down next to her barely touched plate, and went upstairs, her bare feet soundless on the carpeted steps. It was like she was a ghost, floating silently along like a pale imitation of her usually fiery self.

Neji glanced at her plate, then the doorway, then his own plate. He wasn't sure whether he should follow her, begging for her forgiveness and help the whole way, or leave her alone for a while. Typically when she was hurt or angry, she preferred to be alone. But he didn't particularly want to leave her alone this time, especially since he caused this.

Then again, the fact he'd caused the mess was probably a good vote in favor of _not_ following her.

Or perhaps that was the stupid cowardly part of him speaking again. He wasn't used to feeling this way, so unlike himself and so _unsure_ of himself. It was tearing him apart inside, and that's why he'd finally confessed to Tenten. He knew she'd be hurt and angry he'd kept this secret from her for so long - and rightfully so! - but he hadn't quite expected her to react this way.

 _What_ had he been thinking - or had he even been thinking in the first place? After his own little admission to himself that he needed Tenten to help him, he went and pulled something like this. No wonder she was furious with him. He was furious at himself.

Tenten was gone so long he began to grow very concerned. At last, still not having touched his own food, Neji couldn't wait any more and followed her upstairs. He found their bedroom door open, but the one to the bathroom closed.

"Tenten?" he asked hesitantly, tapping his knuckles lightly on the bathroom door. "I really am sorry I kept this from you. If you come out, I promise we will sit down and talk this out however long it takes. I really didn't mean to keep this from you, but it kind of snowballed once it got started. But now we can talk about it, and I promise I will tell you any time it happens, and we can keep working it out until they stop. Just please, Tenten, come out. Please."

Silence on the other side of the door, for so long Neji thought about checking the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. If it was, he would go on in; if not, well, he might just knock the door right on down.

Just as he reached for the knob, it turned. Neji took a quick step back, lifting his gaze from it to the opening door, and then past it to Tenten's face.

Though her eyes glittered with tears, her cheeks were dry though still pale. Tenten looked up into his face and asked very quietly, "Do you promise you won't keep any panic attacks, or anything like it, from me anymore?"

"I _promise_." He was even willing to sign a document in blood, if that's what it took. It was a bit dramatic, he knew, but he needed to make this right for both their sakes.

Tenten nodded. "Good." Drawing in a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and lifted her head. "We really do need to talk about this, and we need to get you past these. We're going to need all the strength we can get."

Neji nodded. "I know. With eight - maybe nine, but I doubt it - people in the house, not to mention all the food and noise and general craziness, we're going to need every last shred of strength and patience to make it through. But we can depend on each other, Tenten. I promise I'll be there for you, if you need to get away for a minute or ten."

"And I'll be there for you, too, anytime, if you need the same." Tenten tilted her head and smiled weakly, propping her shoulder against the doorframe. "I'm sorry for freaking out on you earlier. I didn't mean to react the way I did any more than you meant to keep that from me - and I _do_ believe you when you tell me that."

Neji nodded, relieved. Tenten had been known to fly off the handle occasionally, but for the most part she was a completely rational, level-headed woman. Which made his keeping the panic attacks from her for so long _ridiculous_. "Thank you, Tenten."

" _However_ ," she continued, as if he hadn't spoken, "I didn't necessarily mean _tomorrow_ by what I said. Or at least, not _only_ tomorrow."

 _Huh?_ Neji tilted his head at her, slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

Her smile widened by a fraction, and she held up the hand he only then noticed she'd been partially hiding behind her. Three slender white things stuck out from between her fingers, and a closer look at them made him realize every single one of them had a little plus sign on them. "Wait a minute, you mean you're..." He stammered to a halt, feeling like he wasn't sure whether to grab Tenten and hug her tightly or run screaming in the other direction.

Tenten nodded as her tears finally found their way down her cheeks. "That's right," she whispered. "I'm pregnant."

 ***~To Be Continued~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving last week! Only two chapters left (including the epilogue), but I'm still really excited about them and what's left in the story. Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!


	19. Anticipation

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Ami1010_ , _Guest_ , _rao hyuga 18_ , and _Sachiko Heiwajima_ for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** Only the epilogue left after this. Gosh, I can't believe it's almost over - it feels so surreal. But I _really_ like this chapter - it was such fun to write! I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 ***~Chapter XIX~***

 _~Anticipation~_

* * *

Tenten discovered few things in life were more stressful than shopping for two bridesmaids dresses for two weddings within a month of each other - with an ever-expanding waistline to compensate for.

Hinata, bless her heart, had it almost as bad. While trying to get things ready for her own wedding and find a wedding dress, she also had to shop for a bridesmaid dress to wear to Hanabi's wedding in May - a month and three days after her own. She, however, still had her infuriatingly slim figure, and Tenten found herself jealous more than once. But she wouldn't trade the blessing of her and Neji's first baby for anything, so she resigned herself to multiple fittings and dresses several sizes larger than usual for her.

Though starting to show by Christmas, Tenten still gamely went to three different dress fittings. Hanabi, home from college for the holidays, wanted to get all the "particulars" sorted out then so there would only be a few last-minute things to do when she came home in early May - only two weeks before her wedding. She was, perhaps, rushing things a bit, but no one wanted to break that particular news to the aforementioned glowing bride.

One thing Tenten didn't have to deal with, however, was having a house full of people for Christmas. Hinata and Hanabi happily opened the door of their condo to whomever wished to show up. While Neji and Tenten spent basically the whole day there, various friends were in and out over the course of the day. Copious numbers of presents and hugs were exchanged, much food was consumed, and a great time was had by all.

To everyone's surprise, Sasuke opened his huge mansion on the hill for New Year's. The number of people who showed up consisted of basically those who came to Hinata and Hanabi's all-day Christmas party, with the addition of Sasuke's family. She enjoyed getting to know Sasuke's brother Itachi, his wife Temari (also pregnant with their second child), and niece Karura over the course of the evening. Hanabi and Konhamaru also attended, as well as Naruto and Shikamaru, friends of Sasuke's before he'd even met Hinata. Shikamaru had gone to the same college as Sasuke, and Naruto had accidentally crashed into Sasuke's car when the two were much younger. Somehow (perhaps not surprisingly since Naruto was involved, after all) the two had wound up as friends.

The group had a great time just sitting around talking until midnight, when they watched the Times Square ball drop on TV before toasting the coming year with sparkling cider, since Tenten and Temari couldn't drink wine because of their pregnancies, and Karura was obviously too young.

Around mid-January, Tenten's morning sickness finally eased, and she found herself craving the oddest things all hours of the day and night. Her waistline _really_ began to balloon when she found herself always having to snack because of a hunger she couldn't seem to shake. Gai even started keeping the fridge in the breakroom at work stocked with whatever he knew Tenten was craving at the time, when before it had only been there to keep cold whatever he, Tenten, and Sai (when he wasn't on a buying trip) brought for lunch, plus a constantly-stocked supply of bottled water since Gai heavily endorsed eating and drinking healthily.

Through it all, Tenten was amazed at the change in Neji. He promptly reported any panic attacks to her as promised, though since she announced her pregnancy, their frequency steadily waned until he was only having one every once in a blue moon. His excitement about the baby grew in direct correlation. He developed the habit of when coming home from work he would kiss her, then get down on his knees and hold long rambling conversations with her belly.

Tenten never got tired of listening to him, and when the baby started responding with kicks and punches, she even shed a few tears. She couldn't imagine anything sweeter than those moments she looked forward to each and every day.

Neji, thanks to his connections at the hospital, had found them an excellent obstetrician/gynecologist with over twenty years of experience. When Dr. Fukishima raised her eyebrows at the expectant parents during their fourth ultrasound (since Tenten was a marginal placenta previa) and asked if they wanted to know what the gender of their baby was going to be, they had promptly asked her to write it down and put it in an envelope. When they held an impromptu party later in the week for their friends, the bright pink frosting on the cupcakes for dessert made it clear exactly what Dr. Fukishima had written on that little piece of paper.

* * *

Months ago, after he'd been shot and spent much more time contemplating his own mortality, if someone had asked Neji if he would be in such a great place only six months later, he would have shaken his head and called them crazy.

But despite what he thought, things were even better than that.

Neji's job at the hospital was once more the way it used to be. He saved many lives, patched wounds, set broken limbs and applied stitches. He did lose another patient, an elderly heart attack victim, during that time, which hit him hard, though not quite as badly as losing the littler leaguer.

But once again, what he did as a doctor in the ER was exactly what he _wanted_ to be doing. It was challenging and wonderful and exhausting, but ultimately so rewarding in the end. Perhaps he wasn't making that big of a dent in the problems of the world, but in his own little corner of it, he _could_ make a difference, and he was okay with that.

Getting to come home every single evening to Tenten and their baby was the best part. He loved talking to her stomach and making her laugh (and sometimes cry, though she always tried to hide it). Neji especially loved curling up with her and resting his hand over her stomach, feeling the stirrings of the little life they'd created together moving about in her womb. The thought of being a father excited and terrified him at the same time, because there was so much the privilege entailed. Honestly, he wasn't sure he was ready for that.

Somehow, though, when Tenten would lay her hand over his on her belly and dream about what their baby would look like, _be_ like ( _she'll have your eyes, Neji, and maybe my nose, and she'll be great at sports and want to change the world and do great things just like her papa_ ) Neji could admit that despite his fears, somehow everything would turn out okay.

Or, at least, the way it was meant to be. Which he always fervently hoped and prayed would _be_ okay.

By April and Hinata's wedding, poor Tenten looked like she was carrying a basketball under her bridesmaid's dress. But she smiled her way through the wedding, laughing and crying and enjoying every moment of her best friend's special day before Neji took her home, where she collapsed in bed without even taking off her dress, and fell right to sleep.

A little over a month later, she did it all again for Hanabi. By the end of May her basketball had turned into a watermelon, and her swollen ankles made it difficult for her to wear her sandals for the ceremony. During the reception she was content to sit at a table with a glass of iced tea, her bare feet propped up on a little stool Hinata had thoughtfully slipped under the table for her. Neji kept her company quite happily, though Tenten insisted several times he dance with some of their friends. Though he relented and danced once apiece with Hanabi and Hinata, Neji firmly remained at Tenten's side, her hand in his as they contentedly watched their family once again grow.

When June and the eight-month mark of her pregnacy arrived, Neji could tell Tenten was about to go crazy. Her nesting instinct had kicked in, and he sometimes found her downstairs cleaning house at three o'clock in the morning. At first he would try to talk her back to bed, but eventually (especially on his days off) he would get a dustrag or the vacuum and join her.

He found it a little unsettling when she cried at the drop of a hat (or even over something as simple as missing the trashcan when she tossed a tissue at it), at Hallmark commercials, at the endings of movies that had before drawn nothing more than a contented sigh from her.

As it became more difficult for her to find comfortable positions in bed because of her huge stomach, so Neji sometimes found himself sleeping sitting up on the couch with her. He would wrap one arm around her shoulders, rest his head atop her own, and lay his opposite hand on her stomach. Maybe it wasn't the most comfortable thing for him, but he figured it was the least he could do, being uncomfortable too since he had had an equal hand in Tenten's source of discomfort.

Neji made late night (or early morning, depending on one's perspective) trips to the grocer's for things Tenten craved. He swallowed back his own queasy stomach as he gamely dipped pickles in peanut butter, sprinkled olives on ice cream, or (his personal least favorite) put hot sauce on toast and delivered it to his wife with a somewhat strained smile on his face.

He would be very happy when their daughter was born and his wife went back to being her usual rock-steady, rational-headed self. He figured then he would be the crazy one, since the boys would be coming around to date his daughter before he knew it and he'd have to borrow Tenten's weapon collection.

Somehow, though, Neji knew they'd manage to balance each other out. They always did.

And he honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

 ***~To Be Concluded~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ Only the epilogue to go! Really, it all feels so surreal, being close to the end of this story. But there's a _lot_ of projects coming up really soon from me - more on that in the author's note of the epilogue! I enjoyed writing this chapter _so much_ , all the little things going on during Tenten's pregnancy. (I especially love the idea of Neji talking to Tenten's stomach, and being all sappy when he's usually not. He's going to be a _great_ dad!) Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you all again for the epilogue next week!


	20. Epilogue

Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

 **Special Thanks:** goes out to _Ami1010_ , _Guest_ , _rao hyuga 18_ , _naruto1839_ , _Sachiko Heiwajima_ , and _Victoriaaa_ for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's reviewed throughout this story, and for everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!

 **Author's Note:** So this is it. In some ways it seems so surreal that this story is over, but in others, I'm happy with the way it turned out and am glad I had a chance to write it. Thank you all so much for sticking with me on this journey, and I hope you enjoy the epilogue!

* * *

 ***~Epilogue~***

* * *

Neji woke abruptly, nearly holding his breath as he tried to pinpoint exactly what had wakened him from his exhausted sleep. The house was quiet save for the hum of the air conditioner, keeping the house comfortable in spite of the ridiculously high humidity outside. Rolling onto his back, he reached out for the other side of the bed. The sheets were thrown back, but Tenten's side of the bed was still warm. Clearly, she hadn't been up long.

Throwing off his own covers, Neji half-crawled, half-stumbled out of bed, running his hand through his sleep-tousled hair. Enough light entered beneath the closed door from the touch lamp they left on its lowest setting in the hall for him to find his way to the door and open it.

Stepping into the hall, he listened again. The downstairs, he could tell, was still dark, so Tenten hadn't gone down for a drink or snack. A dim light had, however, joined that in the hall from the nursery, so Neji went to peek through the open door.

Tenten sat in the rocking chair next to the crib, their month-old daughter cradled in her arms. Her hair, pulled back in a braid down her back, shone with threads of mahogany in the soft light; her dusky eyes, still heavy with sleep, gazed adoringly down at the bundle in her arms.

Little Miyako, named for her beauty and the fact she was born in the middle of the night, waved her little arms restlessly, popping her lips satisfactorily at her mother as her big pale eyes drooped sleepily. The mostly-empty bottle on the table next to the rocker (Tenten occasionally had to supplement her own milk with formula, since Miyako was a hearty eater) made it clear Tenten had been called out of bed for a feeding. Neji was surprised he hadn't wakened, too.

For a moment he thought about letting Tenten know he was there, but ultimately decided not to do so. Leaning his shoulder against the door frame, he allowed the peace and beauty of the moment to fill him as he watched his girls watch each other. Miyako smiled gummily, at last grasping a tiny fistful of her mother's nightshirt.

Tenten reached her free hand up to rest over her daughter's, her thumb gently stroking the impossibly tiny appendage. She smiled besottedly down at the little miracle she held, her eyes holding a suspicious sheen in the dim light. "You are perfect, baby girl," she whispered softly. "Don't ever change, okay?"

Neji couldn't have put it better himself. He knew there were so many firsts they had to look forward to: her first tooth, her first birthday, her first day of school, her first sporting event (Neji was holding out hope for martial arts; Tenten, for archery), her first date...

...And, well, he didn't much like to think about that one, or anything past that, really. He knew Miyako's growing up years would bring so many firsts, and not all of them would be good: her first bout of illness, her first scraped knee or elbow. But through them all, he hoped and prayed she would remain the same sweet, beautiful girl she was at this moment in time. That the purity and beauty of this moment would endure, somehow woven into the very fabric of her life, even if not her memory.

At last, Tenten looked up and noticed him. Her smile widened, and she motioned for him to come over with a tilt of her head.

Neji acquiesced gladly, pushing off the door frame to move across the room and kneel next to the rocker. Miyako had fallen asleep, her rosebud mouth pursed, one small hand fisted beneath her chin as the other still clung to her mother, her wispy dark hair a soft, fuzzy blanket over her small head. Resting his head on Tenten's lap next to his daughter, Neji very carefully pressed a kiss to Miyako's tiny, smooth, warm cheek.

Tenten sighed contentedly above him, her free hand moving to twine into his loose hair. "I want this moment to last forever," she whispered.

Closing his eyes, Neji savored the feel of his wife's hand in his hair, the warm solidness of his child between them. "Me too," he agreed softly. "A year ago I thought I'd never get to have this. And now? Now my life is so much better than I ever thought it could possibly be."

It hadn't been easy, getting to this point. There had been an infinite number of ups and downs, a lot of rough patches to counteract the good times he and Tenten had had so far. He knew there would be more in the future, but none of them mattered. Not in this perfect moment, with the family he'd so patiently waited for so very long.

Their lives would never be absolutely perfect, but as long as they stayed together and faced adversity as one, they could overcome anything.

And that, for Neji, was the very description of perfection.

 ***~The End~***

 _ **Author's Ending Notes:**_ It's surreal this story is over, but at the same time, I'm really happy with how it turned out. This story was a long time in coming, and in the making, and I hope you all enjoyed it. I appreciate everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story from beginning to end. Thank you all again, and I hope to see you again in the future!

 _ **Author's Ending Notes 2:**_ I promised you all an update on upcoming projects at the end of the last chapter, so here it is! My beta, Mama Jo, and I are working on a collab fic for Christmas that we're both really excited about. This is the first time we've co-written something since _Labyrinth_ (still working on that, too!), and it's been a ton of fun so far. After that will be another _Entanglements-_ verse fic, _Victory_. It actually takes place before both _Solo Tu_ and _Entanglements_ , so keep your eye out for that probably around New Year's. My next big project, though, is tentatively called _Sonata in Ivory_ , and I'm _really_ excited about it. It's an artistic AU, and though I haven't started writing it yet, I can hardly wait! Simultaneously, I'm also going to be doing another NejiTen one-shot collection. Some will be connected, some won't, but I'll put them all in one story like _Eyes_ , and since NejiTen is my favorite, it'll be a fun and stress-reducing side project I can work on and share with all of you, too (and yes, there'll probably be more _Entanglements_ -verse one-shots in that one)! Thank you again so much for all your support, have a great Christmas and New Year's (if something happens and I don't get to post before then), and I'll see you next time!


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